Deciding on a clear-headed walk to the mailbox that he needed to devote himself to service—at least in the short term—Brandon del Pozo traded his musings as a philosopher in the academy for a seat at the police academy. Over two decades later, he has experience thinking deeply and acting decisively for systems-based reforms on everything from anti-terrorism to technology to public health. Find out how sometimes marrying the philosophical and the practical can be of real and deep consequence for the well-being of others.
Guest Brandon del Pozo, Dartmouth '96, stood on a folding chair on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the first tower fell on 9/11, tasked with shutting down the exchange and getting people to safety. Some people weren’t listening until a patrician old banker said “This officer’s talking, and we’re going to listen and do what he says.” In time, a lot more people would echo that sentiment: This officer’s talking, and we’re going to listen and do what he says.
A public health, drug policy, and policing expert, Brandon helps others formulate policy by drawing on lessons learned at the intersection of on-the-street practice and his academic investigations of political philosophy over a career spent in both policing and research. He looks to both theory and evidence-based behavioral science to boil things down to systems that a person can use to improve a life on a given day.
In this episode, find out from Brandon how the philosophical and the practical can come together in ways that can be of real and deep consequence for the well-being of others…on ROADS TAKEN...with Leslie Jennings Rowley
About This Episode's Guest
Brandon del Pozo spent nearly two decades in the New York City Police Department and served as the chief of police in Burlington, Vermont, where he tackled a number of pressing societal issues, including the opioid addiction crisis. He is currently a postdoctoral public health researcher at Brown University and continues to think deeply on the systems-level reforms necessary to optimize public health and policing in America. Find him at brandondelpozo.com.
BONUS EPISODE NOTE: Listen to the Roads Diverged bonus episode with Brandon published on September 18 in which he discusses his vision for how policing in America can become a truly positive affirming force for our society provided we view it through a collaborative, systems-based lens.
Executive Producer/Host: Leslie Jennings Rowley
Music: Brian Burrows