When I first became a Police Officer in Forest Park, Georgia, I was 21 years old and had no clue what this profession had in store for me. One thing that immediately stood out to me about my department was the lack of diversity in supervision.
It wasn’t that I was looking for a great deal of diversity, but the veteran minority officers regularly remarked upon it. We had one African American Sergeant and he was an Administrative Sergeant, which meant he did not supervise anyone. This was the highest position an African American had ever achieved in the department, but Sergeant was also the lowest supervisor position in the organization.
As I heard the veteran officers talk about this dilemma and how they felt they would never get a fair shot at promotional opportunities, I always told myself I would be the one to make history one day. Once I set my focus on that goal, I never looked back and the sky was the limit.
After a few years, I started to make a name for myself and people were starting to notice my potential in the police. One day I was out to lunch with coworkers and as we were leaving the restaurant, I was stopped by an African American gentleman. I recognized him, but we had never met. He asked my name and explained that people in the community were talking about my potential. He explained that there was a group of minorities who were concerned with the lack of supervision diversity in the agency. My name had come up as a good officer for them to get behind to “push” for promotion to captain level or higher. He then gave me his number and said his group wished to meet with me, off duty, away from the city limits. I never called and never met with the group. While we definitely had diversity issues, I did not want to be associated with anything other than my hard work and determination.
Several years after the encounter at the restaurant, I ran into the gentleman again at a community event. I was a Police Captain then and I still can see the smile on his face as he was staring at the Captain bars on my uniform. I could feel his internal pride and joy because he never thought he would see this happen. That moment has always stuck with me throughout my career. It taught me that promotions and accomplishments have a deeper meaning than just money and power.
As we were standing there in front of each other, I felt just as much pride and joy as he did because I appreciated that I had accomplished this on my own merit. Little did I know that Captain would only be a small part of a leadership journey that has exceeded my wildest dreams. Before leaving Forest Park, after almost 18 years, I would go on to become the first African American to achieve the ranks of Lieutenant, Captain, Major and Police Chief there.
The 2014 police shooting death of Michael Brown was a pivotal moment for law enforcement around the country. I watched from Georgia as rioting and destruction unfolded in Ferguson in the aftermath of this shooting. The community response to this event was different from anything I had seen in my career thus far. I followed the coverage of that event and stayed connected with it until the official Department of Justice report was released, several months later.
I read through the report and saw a lot of similarities between Ferguson and Forest Park. I questioned if Forest Park would have seen a similar response from the community if we had a similar shooting incident. I worried that our community relationships were not as good as they could be, especially with the minority community. I was a Captain at the time and there were no other minorities in the command staff, so I felt a deep sense of responsibility that I had to lead this effort.
When I set out on my mission to better connect with the community, my sole focus was to improve relationships and perceptions, for both the public and the officers. In doing this work, I found a great sense of accomplishment because I saw the positive impact that it was having in the community. The success I was having trying to develop bridges gave me the confidence that I could take my efforts and lead a department that needed community building.
In 2019, in the biggest shock of my life, I was appointed the Police Chief in Ferguson, Missouri. Going to Ferguson as the Chief was an overwhelming experience. To simply say I was afraid is an understatement – I was terrified.
Luckily, fear is a great source of positive fuel for me. We often look at fear as a negative, especially in leadership. In my opinion, we underestimate fear. However, I often produce my best results when fear is part of the equation. I have such a resentment of failure that fear of failure drives me to excel. I’m often at my best when I feel overwhelmed by a situation. I think more leaders have this quality than not, but in our society, we are conditioned to look at fear as a weakness, so people don’t often highlight the fears they have.
My time in Ferguson was a whirlwind experience. Overnight I was thrust into the media spotlight. Not only was Ferguson getting a new Police Chief, but I came to Ferguson right before the five-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death, which was a big media moment. That anniversary weekend was a success and no significant challenges or controversy unfolded.
However, just nine months later, the Ferguson community would again experience rioting, which resembled the unrest of 2014, in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death. That experience was one that I will never forget and pray to never experience again.
Law enforcement leadership is tough. Regardless if you are in a small unknown city, or a city that everyone has heard of, the challenge of leading is always present. One key to my survival as a Police Chief is understanding what I can control. It’s human nature for people to get upset about things they feel are unfair, unjust or just downright bad. I’m no different, but I also try to filter my feelings by understanding whether or not I have any control over the situation that has me feeling this way.
If I do not have any control over it, I can’t dwell on it, I have to move on and help others move on also. Another key point is that if you don’t care about people, you have no business in leadership. Unfortunately, I’ve seen some individuals have terrible experiences in leadership positions because they had no clue how to deal with people. Once you achieve the heights of leadership, regardless of your profession, your success is not grounded in how well you can perform the tasks of the organization.
Your success is tied to how well you can lead the people of the organization, because they are the ones carrying out the tasks you set. Your role has now become the people – and people are complicated. Although the task of leading others is not simple, the key to it is. Treat people how THEY want to be treated, not how YOU want to be treated. You only learn how to do that through open communication.
Chief Jason Armstrong currently serves as the Police Chief in Apex, North Carolina. He was previously Chief of Police for the Ferguson Police Department (Missouri) where the department made significant reforms as part of their federal consent decree efforts, while working with stakeholders for sustainable community bridge-building. Jason is recognized as one of the nation’s top law enforcement leaders in the areas of community outreach and engagement as well as police reform and is a sought-after contributor for media outlets, keynote speaking engagements, panel discussions and trainings in the areas of leadership, police reform and community engagement.
This article was originally published in the June edition of Security Journal Americas. To read your FREE digital edition, click here.