Panel Talks About Race, Rights

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

— Two local law enforcement officials said their agencies face a big challenge when it comes to maintaining a roster of officers that reflects the demographics of their communities.

Benton County Sheriff Kelley Cradduck and Rogers Police Chief James Allen were the targets of most of the questions during a "Know Your Rights" panel discussion Tuesday covering issues related to law enforcement and minorities.

At A Glance

NAACP

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909, is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. The Northwest Arkansas chapter of the NAACP formed in October. It has 160 members, according to president John Colbert. The organization can be found online at www.facebook.com/nw….

Source: Staff Report

Ken Swindle, a Rogers lawyer, and Tim Summers, a former state legislator, also took part in the discussion hosted by the Northwest Arkansas branch of the NAACP. About 50 people attended the event, held at the public library.

Myra McKenzie-Harris, who moderated the event, started by noting Benton County is the fastest-growing county in Arkansas. With that growth has come a significant increase in residents of color, particularly Latinos. She asked the sheriff and police chief what they are doing to make sure their officers are sensitive to these changes.

The Sheriff's Office has mandatory training to make sure officers understand how serious racial profiling is, and the office looks to weed out applicants who exhibit troubling mindsets, Cradduck said.

Rogers officers must fill out a form for every traffic stop they make that includes the driver's race. The department's statistics don't indicate racial profiling is a problem, Allen said.

Both men said it's difficult finding qualified women and minorities willing to come to work for their agencies.

"You would like any law enforcement agency to mirror your public. That's one of the challenges we face," Cradduck said. "I don't have the magic answer as to why we can't get more minority candidates to even apply."

The Rogers Police Department has some bilingual officers and pays a premium for those who speak Spanish because of Rogers' heavy population of Hispanics. But the city must compete with the private sector for people with those skills, Allen said.

McKenzie-Harris asked what kind of "out-of-the-box" methods the department has tried to find minority job candidates. Allen responded with a question of his own.

"I would turn that around and ask people of color, what can we do? We need to hear what we can be doing because everything we've tried before hasn't produced the numbers," he said.

McKenzie-Harris asked what law enforcement agencies are looking for when trying to identify drug traffickers driving through the area.

Cradduck said when a vehicle is stopped with heavy loads of narcotics, it's usually a result of information passed along from another law-enforcement agency. Tips from residents can be very helpful, he said.

Cradduck said he couldn't deny racial profiling exists, but his office would work quickly to remove deputies who showed a tendency to profile. The key is to decertify them so they aren't "recycled" to smaller agencies, he said.

Probable cause also was discussed at length. Allen and Cradduck were asked to give examples of what could trigger an officer to detain a person.

"Seasoned officers know by certain cues people give out," Allen said.

Cradduck added, "People have a right to be left alone until they give you a reason not to."

Allen recommended people sign up for his department's Citizen's Police Academy, a free, 10-week course designed to help the public better understand how the police operate.

What should a person do if stopped by police for no good reason in that person's mind? That person should state his objection but be courteous at all times, Swindle said.

"Don't get into any kind of confrontation, verbal or physical," Swindle said.

Tuesday's discussion, which lasted more than 90 minutes, was the first in a series the NAACP intends to hold in Northwest Arkansas. The next one will be in Washington County in about three months, though an exact time and place haven't been decided.

John Colbert, president of the Northwest Arkansas NAACP branch, thanked those who attended Tuesday's event.

"We want to become partners with you all and make sure every citizen of Northwest Arkansas is being treated fairly," Colbert said.

NW News on 04/09/2014