The ‘Ferguson effect’ impacting Monterey County Sheriff’s Office

It’s been more than a year since Michael Brown was shot and killed on August9, 2014, by Darren Wilson, an officer with the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department.

But what happened next changed America forever.

Protests erupted across the country. “Unarmed black teen shot and killed by white police officer” spanned headlines. The divide between police and the community is now greater than ever, and departments on the Central Coast are feeling the pain.

“I think just the actions of a few departments across the nation has diminished a little bit of trust in the community,” said Steve Bernal, Monterey County sheriff.

Bernal said recently the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office has seen a decline in applications. He thinks the negative view of police right now is making people think twice about putting on a uniform.

According to the recruiting department, the Sheriff’s Office used to get upwards of 500 applicants during annual hiring periods. Now it sees only about 25 applications.

“We are judged by what people see on the media, and there’s more to the job. My fear is that we are going to lose more law enforcement officers because they don’t want to make that decision to shoot for fear of being criticized in the media,” said Bernal.

Bernal is referring to what’s now called the ‘Ferguson effect.” In other states, officers have reported holding back on making stops in fear of being blasted on social media orbecoming the next YouTube sensation. Just go to the website and type in ‘police use of force’ and thousands of cellphone videos pop up.

“Deputies, officers, need to keep in mind that they are always, possibly, on video,” said Bernal.

Working to rebuild trust in the community, the Sheriff’s Office created a community advisory group. The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is part of the group.

“At least Sheriff Bernal is reaching out, and that’s what I see. Even though he’s new, he’s reaching out to find ways to be better in the community,” said Antonio Rivas.

Rivas is with the Salinas LULAC Council. It’s an organization that helps the Latin community with education and civil rights issues. He said the “Ferguson effect” is also impacting the community.

“They feel very unsafe and right now the trust is not there. Now it’s more open. People have videos, cellphones, before in the past you didn’t see that,” said Rivas.

And for the Salinas immigrant community, Rivas said it’s not easy to build trust with a group that already has a cultural distrust of law enforcement.

“We know we have great police officers, they are in Salinas, but also they need more and more,” said Rivas.

But as the Sheriff’s Office is finding, that’s not easy right now.

“It is a tough job. You’re held to a higher standard for one. You don’t always necessarily deal with happy people. You deal with a lot of tragedy, you go to a lot of domestic disputes and you got to be a Dr. Phil at times,” said Bernal.