An admission of wrongdoing and a change of ways will go a long way in improving police and community relations.
—
The relationship between the majority of American police departments and the communities of color they serve are torn, but a relationship exists between them nonetheless.
And following the logic of relationships, to repair the tear, one or both parties involved must admit their role in the conflict and pledge to never partake in whatever activity led to the rift.
These sentiments have been expressed by a couple of individuals I’ve come in contact with recently.
The first time I heard it was after #PhillyAfterFerguson, a town hall meeting organized by Techbook Online that focused on improving policing, but that soon grew tense after protesters repeatedly demanded to know who killed Mr. Brandon Tate-Brown, a 26 year-old North Philadelphia man who, while unarmed during a traffic stop in mid-December of 2014, was shot in the back of the head by a Philadelphia police officer.
“The police need to admit they treat black people differently,” said a White, former New Jersey law enforcement officer who attended the town hall meeting and spoke to me directly afterwards. “Until they do,” he added, “this tension will exist.”
The second time I heard it was from Mr. Tate-Brown’s mother, Mrs. Tanya Brown-Dickerson.
“We can’t fix it until they own up to what they do,” she said, standing before of a large crowd in Center City Philadelphia at the #PhillyisBaltimore rally.
These assertions, while common sense, are widely ignored by general audiences, politicians, the mainstream media, the police and the unions leaders who represent them. It’s become accepted by many that if lawmakers repeal stop-and-frisk and dollars are invested to bolster civilian oversight, tensions will simmer to silent. The fractured relationship isn’t merely a result of flawed and racist policies, though that does, unquestionably, exacerbate tensions.
The real problem lies within the blatant way in which the system shows that officers of the law are not only, most times, above the law, but are more valued in society than the human beings who actually pay their salaries. A clear example of this undemocratic and inhumane power structure can be seen in the story of Mr. Tate-Brown.
Forget the fact that his mother had to learn of the fatal officer-involved shooting through the news, instead of a personal phone call or visit by police to the home. The real cruelty is that she’s isn’t allowed to have closure – which interpreted by her is the name of the officer who killed her son and the video of the incident released to the public – because top brass values their officer safety over a grieving mother’s plea.
There’s hasn’t been one point since the death of Mr. Tate-Brown where the Philadelphia Police Department acknowledged Mrs. Brown-Dickerson’s humanity and acted accordingly, though Deputy Police Commissioner, Mr. Kevin Bethel, did extend to her an apology at #PhillyAfterFerguson.
The Philadelphia Police Commissioner, Mr. Charles Ramsey, has consistently touted rules over righteousness, and for that, his soul will be judged and his career forever stained with Mrs. Brown-Dickerson’s tears.
I’ve sat at countless mayoral forums and I’ve even organized my own, which Mrs. Brown-Dickerson attended and participated in as an interviewer.
I’ve heard all the candidates discuss their ideas for community policing, but none of them have acknowledged that for years, American police departments have been above the law, beyond reproach, under-scrutinized and have been racially bias in the way they patrol, protect and serve, though mayoral candidate, State Senator, Mr. Anthony Hardy Williams, has been pushing a zero-tolerance, “character clause” that would immediately fire any police officer who used racial or homophobic slurs.
As Mrs. Brown-Dickerson, a school bus driver, has passionately articulated, there needs to be one law for everyone and the disciplinary standards that apply to her profession – in terms of using force on the population she’s servicing – should apply to the police officers.
If policy makers and appointees to high positions of government are serious about mitigating tensions between police and communities of color, they must first understand that, while torn, a relationship does exist, and to heal, wrongdoing must be acknowledged, the applied logic of relationships must be followed.
Until those who run and oversee American police departments own up to the unbalanced power dynamic that puts them in positions of dictatorship and not mediators, negotiators and servants, tensions will not only exist, they’ll worsen, and there’s no political platform coherent or integrated enough to deal with an uprising from a people scorned.
*Tune into 900amWURD or 900amWURD.com every Friday during the 6 o ‘clock hour to hear me review #TheWeekThatWas*
Thanks for reading. Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® & I’m Drumming for JUSTICE!™
