The High Road is the More Difficult Path

 

Journalists and police officers have an extraordinary relationship. When we run into each other on our jobs the police usually are trying to keep facts private and the reporters are trying to get them released.

Yet there we were, my sister, the cop, and me, the journalist, taking a vacation together at Disney World.  It was a real-life laboratory where both of us could explore each other's  lives. 

My cell phone was turned off so my editor couldn’t reach me. But Liz carried her pager with her all the time. It kept going off – again and again and again. "I’ve got to take this call," she kept saying.

 The entire time we were at Disney World my sister the homicide investigator  took calls from the her partner (they solve a homicide that week) and the mothers of homicide victims. I could not believe the mothers were able to call her on vacation. She explained to me that, for many, this is the low point of their life. They wanted information about the case. They wanted justice. They wanted to talk.

During the week, my image of my tough, little sister changed. I learned she didn’t see the victims as numbers or cases. They were people with families. It didn’t seem to matter if the victim was a drug dealer or a suburban mom (though, I’ll admit, this matters quite a bit to journalists.)

A mother’s grief is still the same, she said, no matter what good or bad a child has done.

After the vacation ended, I began to wonder why we never saw police officers on TV shows interrupting their vacations with families to work on cases or talk to mothers of crime victims. Where’s the drama in that?

We all have filters about people and professions. Right now, bankers are taking a lot of heat (though not all bankers engaged in predatory practices.) Let’s all try to keep that in mind as we speak and comment on news stories.

My filters about police officers shifted dramatically over that week because my sister’s actions challenged my stereotypes and forced me to re-examine my own biases. Whenever I am with a group that is berating police officers, I don’t scold them. I simply share the story of my amazing trip to Disney World. My sister's actions serve to challenge their assumptions and expand the universe of facts.

Police officers have families – just like crime victims. They have sisters, brothers and parents who worry about the threats they face when they leave for a shift. They have people in their lives who love them enough to let them serve the skeptical public.

So when people say all police officers are racist or corrupt, it diminishes those who strive to do the right things.

Police officers, just like the rest of us, have racial and gender biases.  The issue is being addressed by law enforcement leaders and scientists. The Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity (CPLE) is a relatively new research consortium that promotes police transparency and accountability by collecting research on biases and sharing it with law enforcement agencies so they can improve training and reduce problematic outcomes. The scientists actually examine police decision-making for bias. Then they use the data to help the departments develop effective strategies and policies.

Police departments and minority groups won’t erect a bridge over decades of distrust, however, until the tone and language change in our conversations.  If the goal is to improve public safety, the public needs to take a broader view and examine these cultural collisions from various angles.  We can fix half the intersection, meaning the police, but then we will still have deadly accidents because the other side of the street has blind spots. Shouldn’t we strive to be accident free?

Members of the public - including those in minority communities – harbor negative biases about the police or departments, which handcuff the officers and increase the level of danger they encounter.   Oakland, CA lost four police officers - three were murdered and one is brain dead- this past weekend. Media reported that some bystanders stood and taunted crime scene investigators.

“Enough is enough,” Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said in a statement. He is right.

It is time to talk honestly and openly with each other. If we can't find police and minority leaders with the skills to resolve these issues, then it is time to recruit and train a new generation of problem solvers and collaborators. We can't continue afford to hold conversations that throw gas on flames.

What’s in it for me, one might ask? Well, when police officers and community members trust each other more and work together more closely, a community can save more children and actually prevent homicides. 

 Perhaps we can keep some moms from getting my sister’s cell phone number.

So what are we waiting for?

 

 

(If you have a question or wish to contact me, email me at theculturalcoach@aol.com)

Comments

[Jazz]

WHAT a hero your sister is! And you, too. You've made a believer out of me.
My thanks and gratitude to your parents for producing such admirable citizens.
Keep writing wrongs, Linda!

[Sandy]

Someone just sent me another "simple" explanation for racism: " To what can racism really be attributed? Indisputably, the sole, exclusive cause is mankind's life-opposing, continuously growing, overpopulation problem; for it subsequently forces an increased need for everything one can imagine. This steadily escalating demand for greater production results in increasingly greater, endless, insurmountable disasters. Insurmountable, since remedial efforts to resolve each problem are usually only very half-hearted in order to enable politicians, the industrial leaders and others to preserve their positions; additionally, these people are given immense funds which, of course, they funnel into their own pockets. Likewise, attempts to alleviate environmental ills are usually nothing more than senseless efforts to combat the symptoms of the situation and are nothing more than an exercise in futility, for none of the adversities are cut out at the root and destroyed. Instead, the symptoms are merely apathetically attacked in a lackluster manner to keep up pretenses for the public. Thus, much more serious adversities in both the near and distant future are predestined to occur in every way even today.

Bitte shen --betsy"
But the system as I see it is much more complex with the issue of limited resources certainly being one, but many more important determinants as well.
Sandy

[Linda]

Thanks to all who have offered insights.

Research indicates nearly all of us have racial biases or prejudices. Therefore, I can be racist and have strong racial biases. Or I can be an anti-racist and have implicit or hidden racial biases. Both are possibilities.

Problem is, most of us are not aware of these implicit biases. So our biases prompt us to make faulty assumptions and we may never be aware of it.

Two men sit in two different cars in front of a house. One is black. The other is white. We may look at the white male and conclude he is an insurance agent awaiting an appointment. We may look at the black male and conclude that he is casing the house.
Here's another scenario:
A person looks out in the back yard and sees a police officer with a flashlight. A minority group member might immediately conclude the officer is targeting him or her. A white might think the police officer is there to protect me.
Our racial filters greatly influence our conclusions. (Either situation is possible. You have to do research and get the facts.)
There is a considerable amount of research that suggests most people have racial biases and/or preferences (including police officers - no matter what their color or ethnicity). (I think of them as cultural shades). As we become more aware of these filters we can learn how to manage them snd make evidence-based decisions.

(IT is possible the white man is casing houses and the black man is the insurance agent. We need to look for specific behaviors and move beyond our first impressions.)
.

So we need to have two conversations in Houston. We need to continue to address racism. We also need to examine any and all biases that diminsh opportunity and weaken our community.

Linda