The Star Packaging raid offers insight into how Whitewater Police Chief Jim Coan presents his police force to the community, and as a consequence, the message he sends to his team. No action of Coan’s force has been as justly controversial as the Star Packaging raid, and at each stage his statements underlie an unwillingness to admit mistakes.
I have been asked why Coan is an arch-apologist for just about any police conduct, when so many who listen to him find him unconvincing and overly-defensive of the Whitewater police. The answer is that he’s not speaking to persuade the whole town, or even a large part of it; his words are reassurance for a small, mostly town-bred, elite. They want – and expect – that he will never yield or admit fault on any significant matter. Second, his simple, ceaseless defense of the Whitewater force has the consequence of dissuading common, thoughtful residents from the hope of correcting the problems within the force, and of making it truly professional. Finally, Coan may believe – perhaps correctly, too – that if he repeats the same contentions long enough, others will believe them.
There are two recorded sources of Coan’s comments on Star Packaging: published news accounts, and Coan’s editorial in the Whitewater Police Department Newsletter, Volume 48. (For now, I will only offer remarks on Coan’s ‘Police-Community Relations’ editorial in volume 48. It’s the medium most favorable to Coan, giving him every benefit of the doubt: it’s his newsletter, and he can write freely. If there’s a foolish statement in the WPD Newsletter, Coan can’t contend a reporter tricked or misquoted him, for example. The newsletter is available at the City of Whitewater website.)
I will list Coan’s remarks, and thereafter my comments.
Coan from WPD Newsletter, Volume 48, on Press Criticism:
I believe that our Department has been unfairly criticized and much maligned since the arrests made at Star Packaging last August. Accusations of racial profiling, bigotry, and bias-based enforcement persist in quotes provided to the media by certain people from both within and outside of our local Hispanic community.
Adams replies:
This is Coan’s opening paragraph from his editorial on “Police-Community Relations,” and it reveals much — much that’s disturbing — about Coan’s role as police chief. First, it’s a self-pitying opening. The raid caused tension in the Hispanic community in Whitewater, where families were removed from the community, but Coan’s first thoughts are about how his officers have been unfairly criticized and much maligned. Rather than open from a position of strength and reconciliation, Coan opens from one of weakness and accusation; he complains about how mere words have hurt him, and his officers. If they’re brave, and noble, and warriors, or whatever else he’s written about his force, then why would a few stories in the Week or Janesville Gazette matter?
Second, why smear the Hispanic community by writing that “certain people from both within and outside of our local Hispanic community?” Why not just write “local community?” Here’s one reasonable interpretation: Coan thinks that he wouldn’t have a problem if Hispanics and their defenders would just shut up. Coan doesn’t accept responsibility for mishandling any aspect of the raid; it’s all the fault of Hispanics and their defenders, here and beyond, who are talking and supposedly lying to the press.
I am neither Hispanic nor a defender of the Hispanic community, however Coan defines it. I am citizen, resident, and property owner, with a family ancestry on this continent stretching far back. I object to Coan’s view, but not because I am part of the Hispanic community; I object because his ceaseless apologia destroys the possibility of accountability. If this were baseball, Coan wouldn’t just be players’ manager, he’d be a weak players’ manager.
Coan from WPD Newsletter, Volume 48, on Deportation:
As you know, it was the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency that took into custody the illegal and/or undocumented workers at Star Packaging. Some of those taken into custody were deported, some incarcerated on separate charges, and some are awaiting hearings. All were provided due process and protection under the law.
Adams replies:
It’s hard to overstate how disgraceful and weak-kneed these words are. Coan’s now-retired detective, Larry Meyer, likely called ICE. Coan wants to absolve his force of responsibility by saying that although his force called ICE, they are not responsible for the consequences of the call. These are the words of a follower, not a leader. Coan lags behind his men, calling out to them the soothing words they want to hear. Here’s the truth, from ICE: “We went to assist the Whitewater police,” said Gail Montenegro a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Chicago. “They asked us to assist in anticipation of encountering illegal aliens, and we did that.” (See, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, May 1, 2007, page B1.)
By the way, even months after the raid, Coan continues to heap praise on Larry Meyer, as May 18th’s Police Day ceremony demonstrated.
Coan from WPD Newsletter, Volume 48, on Extreme Confidence:
I am extremely confident that the members of our Department do not engage in racial profiling, bigotry, or bias-based enforcement. We have instituted too many checks and balances for that to happen anyway. More importantly, I believe in the integrity of our officers. We are a highly professional law enforcement agency that is comprised of very compassionate, exceedingly dedicated, well trained, and highly ethical men and women.
Adams replies:
Coan’s not just confident; he’s extremely confident. His officers aren’t just dedicated; they’re exceedingly dedicated. He’s so confident, that he knows, in advance, that no one in his force could ever commit “racial profiling, bigotry, or bias-based enforcement.” It’s not just unlikely to Coan; it’s his extreme confidence that it does not happen, and cannot happen. That’s not a police force; it’s a group of saints he must be describing. (If Coan says they’re like saints, I’ll respond that he falsely sanctifies worldly things and people.)
Notice, though, how Coan’s rush to defend his men is illogical. He tells us that he’s extremely confident that bias does not happen, but simultaneously declares that he has checks and balances in place to prevent it. No doubt, Coan would declare that the additional checks and balances are so that he can be extremely, extremely confident. Checks and balances, however, may not stop a racist action; they might prevent it from its full impact. Coan conflates two situations: where an officer commits a racist act like bias-based enforcement (he says no, not possible) and where checks and balances prevent the consequences of bias-based racial harm (which only applies when their is racism, but the checks, etc. prevent its impact on a person or community).
No one except the most abject apologist would believe that there cannot be bias-based enforcement in Whitewater, or that checks and balances could prevent it at a traffic stop late at night. Who would act as check and balance against a police officer at 2 a.m., in an isolated part of town? No one; it’s just a delusion to believe that it can’t happen.
This reveals Coan’s clear failure a manager, but great success as a cheerleader. Once a manager excludes the possibility that misconduct can happen, he sends the signal that he has no expectation of holding associates accountable for what he has already declared is an impossibility.
Coan from WPD Newsletter, Volume 48, on the ACLU:
Although the ACLU has made inquiries into the nature of the Star Packaging investigation, no charges have been brought. Nor has anyone come forward with specific complaints or examples of profiling or bias enforcement by members of our Department.
Adams replies:
After Coan’s blanket defense of his department — having already declared that there cannot be problems — why would anyone come forward? What would be the point; Coan’s already made up his mind, for goodness’ sake. He’s like the early 1960s sheriff of a small southern town — very much like, actually — declaring that since no black residents have complained about police misconduct, there must not be any.
As for the ACLU, well, that’s merely Coan battening on the ignorance of his officers. It’s possible to be a critic of Coan’s weak, self-congratulatory police force, and a critic of the ACLU, too. I am a perfect example. By Coan’s lights, I should probably be a supporter of him, and his force: citizen, resident, property owner, white. (By the way, would someone tell Coan that ‘Caucasian’ is an anachronism like ‘Negro?’) I could not, however, align myself with empty boosterism, weak leadership, and seemingly endless rationalizations, from this chief of police.
The toughest critics of Coan’s force that I have ever met in town are white, and moderate or conservative. The Star Packaging raid was a mess for the city, and Coan will, and can, do nothing to reform his praise-needy force. Coan’s problem doesn’t lie with supposedly out-spoken Hispanics, or the ACLU. It’s that Coan is a Mynah bird of excuses, rationalizations, and self-praise, of himself, and the Whitewater police.