Roll Call: Politicians must respect boundaries when managing police departments

For 37 years I served in law enforcement, including 13 years as chief of police in Riverside. I believed then and I believe now that good policing and good politics are not enemies – they are interdependent.

When a police department does its job professionally, elected leaders and the public win. Lately, though, the balance has shifted. Political influence has moved from reasonable policy setting into operational micromanagement, and that shift is corroding public safety.

Elected officials and city managers rightly set policy and funding priorities for municipal agencies. They are accountable to voters, and policing is a public function. But there’s a clear difference between setting policy and telling a police chief how to manage responses, training and equipment. You hire a police chie