Troy's Top Cop Outlines Training, Enforcement and Community Safety Efforts
Vol. III, No. 91 - Cheif McKinney speaks to the City's Human Relations Commission
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Lat week, at the City’s Human Relations Commission meeting, Police Chief Shawn McKinney recently offered a detailed look at how the Troy Police Department approaches both traffic enforcement and crime reduction. His presentation was without a doubt, one of the most insightful and interesting explanations on not only law enforcement, but also the community, that any civic leaders has given in quite a while. Cheif McKinney deserves a great deal of credit for his skills telling the story about his department.
A central theme of the cheif’s remarks was the impact of a younger police force. About two-thirds of Troy’s officers have been on the job for under five years. That means in many ways, the department many residents may have grown up with with long-tenured officers that grew up here and knew the community is changing. It also means that their professional grounding for these new officers came through a newer academy model. That model includes expanded coursework on cultural diversity and procedural justice, where officers are trained in how race, bias, and fairness intersect with daily decision-making. Each new officer receives sixteen hours on these issues, in addition to five hours of ethics training and another sixteen hours in a program called Blue Courage. McKinney described this program as a way to encourage each officer to see themselves as a guardian of the community, focusing on dignity, professionalism, and service.
Beyond initial instruction, officers receive annual continuing education and must adhere to long-standing department policies that forbid bias-based policing and racial profiling. These restrictions ensure that race, religion, or similar personal characteristics cannot serve as the basis for initiating enforcement.
Traffic enforcement, McKinney explained, is not intended to maximize ticket counts but to reduce crashes and keep roads safe. Certain violations—such as drunk driving, driving while suspended, or illegally passing a school bus—require officers to issue a citation without exception. For less severe violations, such as stop sign infractions or expired registrations, officers have the discretion to issue either a ticket or a warning. Even then, McKinney acknowledged that human nature often plays a role. An aggressive or confrontational driver may find themselves less likely to receive leniency than someone who is apologetic and cooperative.
To provide context, McKinney personally reviewed records from November and December from last year, since the department does not yet have an automated reporting system for traffic stops. His findings reflected more serious violations among African-American male drivers compared to white male drivers, though the overall number of stops involving white males was higher.
In November, African-American male drivers accounted for 24 citations, most tied to serious issues such as driving under suspension or impaired driving. Only three of these cases were left to the discretion of the officer. White male drivers received 79 citations during the same month, including serious offenses but also a higher number of minor violations such as expired plates or equipment issues. McKinney estimated roughly 43 of the 79 citations involved officer discretion. December’s numbers aligned with this pattern, where most citations to African-American male drivers stemmed from more serious offenses and only one was discretionary.
When it came to verbal warnings, McKinney highlighted that the rate was consistent across groups, though the total number was greater for white drivers simply because they accounted for more stops overall. He also pointed to recent statewide legal changes that reduce license suspensions tied to financial hardship, such as inability to pay reinstatement fees. These reforms, he said, will likely reduce some of the long-standing inequities tied to driving rights, though driving under suspension itself remains a serious matter.
McKinney used the opportunity to describe the city’s broader public safety picture as well. Troy continues to report a comparatively low violent crime rate. The city had just four armed robberies last year, while similarly sized cities, such as Hyattsville, Maryland, reported more than one hundred such incidents. The Chief also praised examples of compassionate policing, highlighting one personnel member’s conduct during an eviction. Rather than walking away once the court order was carried out, the officer stayed with the family involved—including children and a child with autism—until help arrived with a moving truck. The gesture, McKinney said, reflected the deeper duties of the police as peacekeepers and protectors.
Finally, McKinney acknowledged the new environment of accountability created by body cameras and social media. Officers are aware that any quick decision could be recorded or go viral online. While this adds stress to an already difficult job, McKinney argued that the transparency helps both the community and the officer, since body-worn cameras often defuse complaints by showing precisely what unfolded in a contested moment.
Chief McKinney’s message was clear: keeping Troy safe depends not just on enforcement but on trust. Through structured training, adherence to anti-bias rules, and examples of human empathy in difficult situations, the department is seeking to show that safety and fairness can work hand in hand.
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