By Mansfield Frazier
When Police Chief Calvin Williams has to go in front of TV cameras to discuss yet another senseless death — especially that of a child — the perplexed bewilderment etched on his face is almost palpable. He, akin to many others in the community, finds it mind boggling that the citizens most affected by the violence in their neighborhoods don’t step up and aid police when they are attempting to bring about an end to the madness.
Chief Williams — in framing the providing of this kind of assistance as a civic and moral duty — is, of course, 100 percent right; citizens should be forthcoming with alacrity in regards to providing information to authorities about criminal activity in their midst they are privy to.
However, with that said, there is another side to the issue; there’s a reason for the reluctance of citizens in inner cities to aid police, and it’s a relatively common mindset in black and brown communities all across America. It essentially comes down to a matter of trust — or lack thereof — and while the residents of these communities usually shoulder the blame for the strained relations between themselves and the police, they really are not primarily responsible for the current atmosphere of mistrust that hangs over America’s inner cities like a miasma.
In every society throughout history the poor, the marginalized and the disenfranchised are always powerless in terms of setting the mores and customs of the Zeitgeist … that privilege (actually it’s a responsibility) resides squarely in the domain of those in control of society … those with the power. Which means the ability to change the tone and tenor of interactions between police and the residents of violence-prone neighborhoods lies in the hands of law enforcement — which is comprised of police, prosecutors and the judiciary — and to expect the situation to be any different in Cleveland simply because we have a compassionate black police chief is foolhardy.
Certainly Chief Williams is a fine and decent man who has the best interest of the residents first and foremost in his mind, but he still is viewed primarily as the leader of a police department that has historically been in conflict with a good portion of the folks being policed. For this reason it’s going to take time for residents to get to know and warm up to the new chief, and his constant scolding of residents over their lack of willingness to be of assistance to the police isn’t going to be helpful in the long run, unless he’s willing to scold his officers also.
An “us against them” and a “circle the wagons” mentality is prevalent on virtually all big city police forces in America, and that attitude certainly is pervasive within the ranks of the police department here in Cleveland, where officers routinely defend to the hilt the wrongdoing of fellow officers. They find a way to justify any police behavior, no matter how egregious or abhorrent.
Recently, when the seven police officers indicted for their roles in the 137 shots debacle made their first court appearance dozens of other off duty officers showed up at court in uniform in what was a blatant attempt to influence the outcome of the proceedings. Such behavior should not be tolerated or go un-addressed.
This type of unsavory action by rank and file police officers further erodes what little trust exists between the department and citizens, and Chief Williams, if he wants to be known as an honest broker, has to publicly hold his officers accountable when they are in the wrong. The new chief came into office seeking to be a change agent, and a change in the relationship between the department he commands and the citizenry certainly is needed if our efforts at re-branding Cleveland are to be successful.
Inner city violence and the police response to it is a wild card; rebuilding downtown and attracting conventions and visitors will mean little (and will come to a halt sooner rather than later) if the culture of how police and citizens interact is not redefined and changed. We simply must build a reputation as a safe and sane city.
With the Department of Justice currently taking a hard look at how policing is carried out in Cleveland, Chief Williams is being afforded the best opportunity anyone will ever get to change the culture hereabouts, but for real change to take place it has to be a 50/50 proposition … both sides have to be willing to engage in meaningful dialogue and also be willing to change.
Citizens have to drop this “no snitching” nonsense and help police to do their job of protecting them, but those with the real power — meaning law enforcement — have to take the first step by reaching out to build trust so that residents are willing to assist them in creating the pacific society we all desire. Not for nothing does the word “cooperation” connote willingness by both sides to join together to seek solutions. To date — except on the rare occasion — there hasn’t been much of that emanating from the rank and file of the Cleveland Division of Police.
While this is fodder for another column, one of the reasons snitching has such a bad connotation is because law enforcement has been known to pay some lowlife community members to get on the witness stand and flat-out “testi-lie” … not testify but “testi-lie.” And everyone in the courtroom (everyone except the juries that is) knows this sometimes goes on. It’s hard to trust a system of justice that allows such scurrilous behavior under oath.
From Cool Cleveland correspondent Mansfield B. Frazier mansfieldfATgmail.com. Frazier’s From Behind The Wall: Commentary on Crime, Punishment, Race and the Underclass by a Prison Inmate is available again in hardback. Snag your copy and have it signed by the author by visiting http://NeighborhoodSolutionsInc.com.