by all rights i should have entitled this "my schizo
attitudes on the police" but i thought i might get
more readers with the title i chose. i'm not above
manipulation. imagine that! a politician who will
openly admit being a manipulator.
i am a member of two different groups where i find
myself in contact with police and issues surrounding
their practices.
communities united against police brutality(cuapb)came
into existence after the shooting of alfred sanders by
mpd officers last november 1st. prior to that time i
had spoken out in siren newspaper against the
senseless shooting(i want to say murder) of barbara
schneider on june 12th of last year. see what i mean
about schizophrenia!
cuapb actively lobbied for the mayor to not reappoint
chief robert olson to a third term as police chief. we
helped pack a committee room in the basement of the
hennepin county government center where the majority
of speakers spoke against the chief's reappointment.
it was my opinion at the time, as it is today, that
there is a systemic problem, an attitude if you will,
among some within mpd that there is no problem with
brutality and misconduct and that those who think so
are just a bunch of molly-coddling liberals who don't
know what they are talking about and who are given to
knee jerk reactions and oversimplication. i'm certain
that for many i fit into that category.
in the case of the reappointment process of the chief
before the ps&rs committee and the isag conference
hearings before a larger body of city councilmembers
it was driven home to city council members that there
was a definite problem they could no longer avoid. at
the time we heard some great speeches but painfully
slow action. cm brian herron for one stated to the
chief that he would be the first to call for his head
if he did not see action or improvement but i heard
nothing from brian after the shooting of demetrius
sesler.
cuapb also actively monitored racial profiling
hearings in the senate and would have done as much in
the house had they not occurred in the blink of an
eye. we were partners in a meeting that set down
mandatory data collection on police stops as a bare
minimum but even that proved too much for some to
accept.
the strib even seemed schizophrenic on the issue; one
week heralding a good compromise when the senate
agreed on the use of cameras tied to mandatory data
collection and then a week later, after the institute
on race and poverty presented its analysis of st.paul
police stops, seeming to call for data collection
throughout the state with no specific mention of
cameras.
everything i've done under the auspices of cuapb plus
long ingrained beliefs and personal experiences over
the last 30 years with the police, not to mention last
years isag conference when i got caught up in the
excitement of the moment and found myself standing off
against a line of mpd's helmeted, stick-toting finest,
has not changed my attitudes toward the police.
i know enough not to make sweeping generalizations and
to recognize the department as not monolithic but as a
collection of individuals like the greater society
that spawns them. and yet... what do they say: if the
shoe fits...
my association with cuapb, my interest in the case of
barbara schneider, my personal experiences and
longtime interest in mental health issues brough me
eventually into contact with "the friends of barbara
schneider foundation", a group of people advocating
for more humane treatment of the mentally ill by
police and a better understanding of what makes people
with mental problems tick.
i don't like to give much credit to chief olson but i
will admit that i think he is right on the money when
he says that society in general has abandoned the
mentally ill and dumped the problem in the laps of the
police. i suppose he could have gone even farther.
with certain exceptions the story of the last 40 years
or so in our society has seen a general pulling back
of individuals from the ills of society and the desire
to put them in the hands of the experts. and the cops
tend to be the experts of last resort. the sort of
cleanup guys for all those undesirables with whom we
don't really want to have to deal.
but i digress and skate across thin ice that is sure
to raise contention. i can just hear neighborhood
group people getting ready to say, no, no, no see what
we did about porno shops or prostitutes or fill in the
blank and then i'll have to counter with "yeah, did
you really do anything about the problem or merely
push it out of our neighborhood into another."
meanwhile...
a month ago i was afforded the opportunity, not to
mention honor and privelege, to speak to the first
class of recruits for mpd's crisis intervention teams
and just today had lunch wth a group of "faculty" who
lead the educational efforts at mpd's police academy.
imagine me on a faculty!
years of broken promises and dashed dreams make it all
too easy to slide comfortably into cynicism. i really
want to believe that this new program signals a change
in process and not just a public relations effort. i
want to believe that the police are sincere and that
they can look honestly and critically at themselves
without shame and accept what they see in the mirror
without excuse, that they can discard the self-pitying
justification i hear when they speak of how the
st.paul police seem to steal their thunder as in the
case of racial profiling analysis, and that they
believe those of us who care for both law and order,
the rights of all individuals, especially the right to
be treated fairly and with respect despite race,
creed, sexual preference, and even perceived degree of
criminality or innocence.
there are still many matters of contention to discuss.
grand juries returning "no indictment" judgements in
the cases of police shootings when the entire process
from investigation to prosecution is flawed and
fraught with confict of interest. there's an old
saying: " a district attorney could get a ham sandwich
indicted if he wanted." I don't really think the
police want too bright a light shined on their
behavior. i hope this training program is not just a
deflection.
i don't think we will ever know the real story of the
shooting of demetrius sesler five or six weeks ago.
something doesn't meet the eye in that whole episode.
and the young mexican man recently the victim of an
"accidental" police shooting. what is that all about?
there are way too many people being shot by cops for
my comfort level.
on june 27th the mayor, cm brian herron, and mpd are
planning a community forum on the progress they are
making with CIT. my impression is that this will be
another dog and pony show like the recent precinct
CODEFOR meetings meant mostly as political pablum in
the reelection process.
it would be well to remember that after rocco dandrea
was shot by police in december '99 the chief started
talking about the memphis program but it wasn't until
after two more shootings of mentally ill people, his
reappointment hearing, and concerted public pressure
that he finally moved off square one.
i do think there is support among rank and file for
CIT and among some in the hierarchy. head of training
at the police academy, sgt. ron bellendier, projects a
great vibe and he's won my support and confidence.
prior to lunch today i wasn't sure i wanted to speak
at the academy again but I was reassured by talking
with ron today over lunch.
i want more than the lowest crime statistics in 34
years for this city. if those numbers come at the
expense of peoples rights being infringed, lives
taken, or a palpable feeling of fear pervading whole
communities, to my way of thinking it is a poor
bargain. i want the best possible police department a
city can have.
i know most everybody is concerned with property
taxes, development, the environment, etc. i am as well
but this, our city's police, and issues of race and
poverty are areas of discussion i have not heard
enough of among mayoral candidates and i wonder why.
and i also wonder if people(regular citizens) just
don't want to discuss them or if they are basically
happy with the status quo.
i believe these issues, the positions candidates take
and the degree to which they understand them are much
greater indicators of the character of the candidates
and the sort of wisdom and leadership they will bring
to city hall and the citizens of minneapolis.
but then i am biased.
tim connolly
ward 7
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