Lawmen stress trust of residents

3 talk at municipal gathering

North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis speaks during the Arkansas Municipal League Convention on Thursday at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. At right is Blytheville Mayor James Sanders.
North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis speaks during the Arkansas Municipal League Convention on Thursday at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. At right is Blytheville Mayor James Sanders.

Three Arkansas police administrators Thursday stressed the importance of building trust in the community to prevent deadly police and citizen confrontations like the ones that have come under intense national scrutiny in recent months.

The chiefs were speaking at a panel during the 81st annual Arkansas Municipal League convention about ways to prevent events such as the ones that occurred in Ferguson, Mo.; Baltimore; New York City; and other cities from happening in Arkansas.

James Sanders, mayor of Blytheville, presided over a panel of North Little Rock Police Chief Mike Davis, Hope Police Chief J.R. Wilson and Helena-West Helena Assistant Police Chief Ronald Scott.

The chiefs were from cities of varying size, but all discussed common challenges of getting more members of minority groups to become police officers, the importance of building trust in the communities they serve and working at a time when some police officers' actions have turned public opinion against law enforcement agencies.

The shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed 18-year-old black man, by a police officer in August was specifically mentioned by Davis. Brown's death in Ferguson sparked weeks of protests that sometimes turned violent. Police officer Darren Wilson was not indicted for shooting Brown, and the Justice Department found no evidence to support a civil-rights charge against him.

"I get asked that question so many times," Davis said. "Could it happen in North Little Rock, Arkansas? You got to be able to admit that, yes, it could happen in North Little Rock, Arkansas. It happened in Ferguson with 21,000 people, so yes, it could happen in North Little Rock, Arkansas. ...We can't put our blinders on to that."

Davis said the events of the past few months need to be catalysts for tough conversations about race within police departments.

"We have issues with race in our country," Davis said. "We have issues with race in our cities. So say it. We have to answer some tough questions. Why are more African-Americans arrested or ticketed in your community? Why don't you have more African-Americans working in the police department? What are we doing to hire more African-Americans in your community? And so it's a discussion that has to be had."

All three administrators and Sanders, who also has a background in law enforcement work, said police need to build good relationships with the people in the communities they serve. It means those on the police force need to understand the makeup of their communities and get involved.

They said building positive relationships in the community might include going into elementary schools and working with children or meeting with members of the faith-based community when a shooting happens in the city.

Wilson said police need to have social capital in the bank so that when dire things happen and the public believes law enforcement agencies were in the wrong, they still believe in the investigation.

"You have to have strong trust in your community," Wilson said. "So the community looks at the chief and its police officers and says, 'We don't think you all are right but we know you. We go to church together. Our sons play T-ball together. We trust you. And while we think you did wrong, we trust that your investigation will get to the bottom of it and you'll do the right thing.'"

Metro on 06/26/2015

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