Changing Our Thought Process: The Road to Meaningful Police Community Trust Building

Changing Our Thought Process: The Road to Meaningful Police Community Trust Building was written to address the systemic trust issues that persist between the police and some of the communities they serve. As a result of these issues constantly reoccurring, there is little evidence that existing programs, strategies, or policies are working effectively. In order to address these concerns, system thinking along with intrapersonal and interpersonal skills are provided as learning resources to help police and communities improve and better manage their relationships. Trust is considered by Gharajedaghi (2006) as an emerging property whose life expectancy is dependent on the conditions that reinforce it or diminish it. Not only does system thinking address the conditions that influence trust; but, it can serve as a positive release valve to build a surplus of trust. This is significant because individuals hold on to negative trust experiences until they can replace them with a more positive trust experience. Systemic thinking is aimed at overcoming the polarities that undermine trust.