Police Reviewing Responses to Protests, Poverty

As the City of Bloomington and Bloomington Police officials prepare to ramp up efforts to improve community relations, police departments across the nation are taking alternate tacks to addressing protests and community concerns in the wake of recent law enforcement-related incidents.

Following a grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson, Missouri, police officer Darren Wilson in the recent shooting death of Michael Brown, protesters in Nashville, Tennessee, decided to block a highway, as protesters did in cities across the U.S. that night. Rather than responding with arrests or an armed presence, Metro Nashville Police Chief Steve Anderson shut down Interstate 24 to allow demonstrators to safely stage their protest.

“In Nashville, if you want to come to a public forum and express your thoughts, even if they’re against the government, you’re going to get your First Amendment protection, and you’re going to be treated fairly by the police officers involved," Anderson said. "That’s what we do here in Nashville."

In Richmond, California, Chief Chris Magnus actually joined protesters this week. When about 100 demonstrators assembled downtown on Tuesday, Magnus stood with them, in full police gear, carrying a sign reading #BlackLivesMatter.

"I spoke with my command staff, and we agreed it would be nice to convey our commitment to peaceful protest and that black and brown lives do matter," Magnus related. Deputy Police Chief Allwyn Brown described the protests as "an opportunity for all police departments, including ours, to look inward and examine our approaches and get better."

Bloomington Police Chief Brendan Heffner and Assistant Chief Gary Sutherland attended Tuesday’s relaunch of the Not In Our Town: Bloomington-Normal anti-bigotry/anti-bullying campaign at the McLean County YWCA, while mingling with residents, students, and community leaders. Heffner and Sutherland had attended a recent NIOT summit at the University of Illinois-Chicago to learn about developing civil rights and related matters

"It's important for our residents to know that we are vested in communicating with the public so that we can all live in a safe community ... where we talk to each other and not at each other," Heffner stressed.

Meanwhile, when Tarrant, Alabama, Officer William Stacy was called to a Dollar General store on a shoplifting complaint, he responded with an act of kindness to Helen Johnson, 47, who’d been caught attempting to steal eggs for her niece, daughter, and two grandchildren who’d gone two days without food. Johnson reportedly was short 50 cents for a dozen eggs, and after hearing about her situation, Stacy made a deal with Johnson that if he bought the eggs, she won't shoplift again. Johnson hugged the officer in response.

Another Dollar General customer posted video of the encounter to Facebook. "All across the U.S., law enforcement officers do stuff like this on a daily basis," Stacy said. "I felt like it was the right thing to do."

Since then, the Tarrant Police have received food and household donations from strangers for Johnson's family and others in need.

Mike: Respect a Two-Way Street on the Streets

By Mike Matejka

for WJBC-AM Forum

The incident in Ferguson, Missouri and the shooting of Michael Brown is one of those cultural divide moments where white and black America look across a chasm at each other from totally different perspectives.

What happened in August in Ferguson will be debated for years.  Was officer Darren Wilson truly justified in shooting Michael Brown?  Did Michael Brown act inappropriately and threaten Darren Wilson?   None of us were there that afternoon and none of us were in the middle of the adrenaline rush that both these young men felt. 

Rather than picking Ferguson apart, I would rather consider our reactions to it.   The friction between young Latino and African-Americans, especially males, and police, creates a pervasive tension.   Parents have to counsel their children on how to respond to police.  The African-American community claims they are being disproportionately targeted, profiled and subject to random attack.   From that perspective, Ferguson and Michael Brown is just another incident in a long line of police confrontations.

Earlier this fall, there was much comparison to the “Pumpkin Riot” in Keene, New Hampshire, where young whites vandalized cars, started fires and attacked police.   The police responded with force and there were arrests, but did those young white people fear that their out of control party would result in deaths?  Probably not, but if there were young African-Americans whose party got out of control, would they fear being shot?  Very possibly.

Respect is the word that I think a lot about after Ferguson. And respect is a two-way street.   Law enforcement deserves respect.  Citizens also deserve respect from law enforcement.   This is more than police being colorblind; police should also appreciate the strong feelings that African-Americans and Latinos have about feeling targeted.

When we have more young African-Americans in jail than in college, that impacts all of us.  Those individuals may never get a decent opportunity in life, branded with a record.    As long as we are spending more on prisons than we are on pre-schools and job training, this social tension will haunt us.   Yes, individuals have to take responsibility for themselves.   But young people growing up in poverty often do not see opportunities that others might think obvious.  Or even if they see the choice, they may not know how to get there.

We can argue who was right or wrong last August in Ferguson.  The conversation I hope we start having is how do we bring our society together and help create opportunity and openings for all.

Mike Matejka is the Governmental Affairs director for the Great Plains Laborers District Council, covering 11,000 union Laborers in northern Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota. He lives in Bloomington with his wife and daughter and their two dogs. He served on the Bloomington City Council for 18 years, is a past president of the McLean County Historical Society and Vice-President of the Illinois Labor History Society.

Nancy: The Complex View Over Ferguson

By Nancy Cruse

for WJBC-AM Forum

The situation in Ferguson, Missouri, really bothers me.  I’m trying to wrap my head around it from many angles:

1. As a mother who will never, ever see her son again.  I know this pain personally and I feel very badly for Michael Brown’s mother.  On a certain level, it really doesn’t matter how he died.  The point is that Lesley McSpadden will never share another birthday, Thanksgiving, or Christmas with her son.  When something major like that happens to you, you have to decide how you will move forward with your own life.  My personal feeling is that you should try to figure out a way to bring something positive out of the situation so that you can help the next person who finds themselves in a similar circumstance. 
2. As a former small business owner.  My late husband and I owned our own businesses for 27 years here in Bloomington/Normal.  We experienced being broken into and robbed twice, having an employee steal company checks and try to cash them, having a plate glass window broken by vandals and having our business burn due to an electrical fire.  After my husband died I experienced having an employee murdered while trying to stop a robbery.  It’s not the same as having your business looted and burned due to racial tensions obviously.  I can however speak to feeling violated by the actions of other human beings and the pain it causes, as well as to how it feels to watch your livelihood go up in flames.  There is no way any one can convince me that looting and destroying other people’s property or causing someone physical harm helps to solve racial tensions.
3. As a human being.  Not all police officers are bad.  I cannot understand how when we are trying to overcome stereotypical thinking it suddenly becomes ok to classify anyone who is part of a particular profession as a horrible human being.  Isn’t this what we are supposed to be overcoming?

I am very sad that a young man lost his life and I empathize with his mother.  I have great respect for those who have given their lives to protect and serve their communities.  I would like to think if there are those in their ranks who hold biased beliefs and treat people unfairly that it will be addressed and dealt with constructively.  I applaud those who express their concerns and beliefs peacefully.

I am very grateful that I was raised by a man who taught me more through actions than words that all people are created equal and deserve respect.  By looking through my father’s eyes I saw that every person has worth, value, and something to contribute.  I believe the greatest change begins at an individual level.  Examine your thoughts and your actions.  What changes can you make – in yourself, in your parenting, and in your community?

Nancy Cruse has been part of the Bloomington/Normal community for the past almost 30 years. A widow, with five children, along with her late husband was a small business owner in downtown Bloomington. Now employed by State Farm, Nancy is active in the community, writing the Clare House newsletter and maintaining their Facebook page, hosting an annual Fourth of July Food Drive, a team leader and fundraiser for the Pat Nohl Lupus Walk, and a member of Toastmasters International, as well as volunteering in various capacities at Holy Trinity Church and schools. In her spare time, Nancy likes to run, bike, hike, read, sew, and be a vegetarian who occasionally indulges in a Schooners Tenderloin.

Ferguson and the Future

As Ferguson, Missouri, and the rest of the nation await a grand jury decision in the Aug. 9 police shooting of Michael Brown this week, Not In Our Town Bloomington-Normal released the following response:

"The events in Ferguson reflect a great disconnect between the government, the police, and the people of the community. We must always work toward understanding and respecting everyone in our community, creating and maintaining a safe, inclusive community in the hopes that we can never have that happen here."