Erika Shields was appointed commissioner of the Buffalo Police Department last Monday, and she says that she has already held meetings with community organizations, local clergy and union officers to learn the lay of the land.
“It's a really invested community, which is really promising when you come in and you're, you're trying to lead a police agency," Shields said.
But she’s not building out her to-do list just yet. Shields says fostering partnerships will be essential to her understanding what’s currently working for the force and what could be better. She plans to do that by talking to the officers she’ll be leading.
“I'm really, at this point, working to navigate the confirmation process, and so in fairness to them, I need to really start the job, go out and meet with them at the work site to really get valued feedback,” she said.
Some feedback Shields says she's gotten so far includes a desire for more training opportunities, and she also expressed a desire to meet implied needs like supportive leadership and improved job satisfaction.
In terms of police overtime — which have seen post-covid rates skyrocket — Shields says she's working through conflicting narratives to learn about the financial components of the police department but that she intends to align operations with the larger financial goals of the city.
"We don't want to be a burden on the city's finances, and so that's just going to require me to drill down on the budget, on our expenditures, and figure out, how can we be as fiscally responsible as possible?" she said.
Shields has observed that the law enforcement needs of residents vary by neighborhood type, reflecting a larger national pattern.
"The communities that have a higher economic base have more quality-of-life issues, she said, adding that "there's room for improvement in the professionalization of police services in some of our more economically challenged communities."
Her community-based interactions will be centered more on the more difficult task of establishing civilian trust in law enforcement.
“You don't just hit a benchmark and there's trust. You're just constantly investing in the relationship and showing that you have empathy for the people that you're there to serve," she said.
Gaining trust may be a more personal task for Shields, as some Buffalo residents have already criticized her departure from the Atlanta Police Department in 2020 following the fatal officer-involved shooting of a Black man during a time of civil unrest. Shields says she resigned to avoid a public rift between the city’s law enforcement and mayoral administration.
“It just felt like the best thing to do to avoid any further trauma to the community and the agency was to step down," she said.
She says she expects a much different working relationship with Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan. This will be the fourth mayoral administration Shields has worked under — having served under two mayors in Atlanta and one in Louisville, Kentucky.
"I knew it wasn't going to be until I met him, and we spent time together, that I felt like, yes, we're definitely going in the same direction and we will be successful here," she said.
As she prepares to take the reins in May from Acting Commissioner Craig Macy, Shields says her priority is to continue listening and learning so that the entire police department can operate as efficiently as possible.
“I want to be able to hit the ground running, and so I'm just trying to put in place some pillars that will help me navigate Buffalo,” she said.
