Ep. 52 Addressing public misperceptions of police ethics, training, use of force and more with Lt. Jared Ross, Arlington TX PD

On Being a Police Officer

Ep. 52 Lt. Jared Ross of the Arlington TX Police Department contacted me to discuss the public's misperceptions of police ethics, training, accountability, use of force and more. Jared has been with the department for 18 years and is currently Patrol Commander. He also is the department’s primary instructor for Ethics & Professionalism.

He says, “whenever I hear the media or members of the public allude to the fact that we're undertrained or that we don't care about training, we don't value education or professional development, it's completely not true. And that's one of the things I wanted to be able to shed some light on, because that's one of my passions in my career.”

We do exactly that and talk about the remarkable feats of interpersonal communication, negotiation, de-escalation, and problem solving that officers do every day, a critical part of the narrative that gets lost.

We also cover Jared’s professional journey including his work as a field training supervisor, a hostage negotiator, a detective in the Domestic Violence Unit, and an Internal Affairs investigator. We discuss why he got into law enforcement and the passion he continues to have for the profession.

I want to honor the life, service, commitment and sacrifice of Officer Darrin McMichael of the Arlington Police Department whose line of duty death occurred shortly before I interviewed Jared and which he mentions in the episode.

Officer Darrin McMichael

E.O.W Thursday, September 21, 2023

https://www.odmp.org/officer/26786-police-officer-darrin-mcmichael

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