> >>
>Keith says; I am a little confused by the proof you
offer in the context of
>1985 ("mid eighties") to 2003. Wasn't the Police
Chief most often not a
>local
>boy during that time period? At best, one might say,
it appears to make
>little
>difference where the Chief originated. I, for one,
would like to see Chief
>Finney move across town; but only if he is willing to
come out as a
>lesbian.
>
(to which Vanessa Freeman replied)
I may have mixed some stuff up bit, however not on
purpose. The point I was
trying to make is that when you to talk to those with
a little power or
clout, or maybe officers themselves, not to mention
the Police Federation,
they make themselves very clear that Chiefs should
come from the ranks. Most
of the time I would agree, however, there have been to
many problems to
count in respect to relations between communities of
color and
law-enforcement; The smart thing to do is not to hire
from within until the
problems are either noticeably better or cleared. To
hire from within is
just like playing Russian roulette, problems have been
masked for so long,
how do we know the right man or women is the right
person for the job.
Until there is an open and honest dialog about race
problems, excessive
force issues and violations of civil liberties, then
there will continue to
be a shroud of darkness cast over the whole police
department. Apparently,
problems between police and minority communities had
gone on since late
seventies, early eighties. Maybe this was why
outsourcing for a new Chief
had to be done.
TN:
First Kieth's point.
I have serious problems with the way Olson (from New
York)has led the department as chief. That said, the
worst excessive force charges were arguably under
Olson's predecessor, John Laux who was promoted to
chief from inside the department and refused to
acknowledge that there were any thumpers within the
MPD.
This period saw the murder of Tycell Nelson, riots
which echoed the Rodney King riots nationwide,
numerous abuses by police during traffic stops, The
murder of an elderly couple during a botched drug raid
and more. I seem to remember something about an MPD
officer raping a woman and videotaping it during this
period (believe it or not, I'm really not trying to be
inflammatory, this is just an incident I remember from
news reports and am hoping someone else has a better
memory than mine and can tell what happened.)
It was this era that led to the creation of the
civilian review board. It was after incidents like
these that Laux lost all support on the city council
for a second term as chief, and then we ended up with
Olson, another New Yorker.
I think the Laux example is precisely why we DON'T
want an insider running the department.
I'm with Vanessa. Race relations need to be addressed
in the selection of the new chief, as does relations
with counter cultural types. This sort of diologue
might have prevented the Hard Times fiasco in 2001.
I'm not sure we want another New Yorker like Bouza or
Olson either. Sure NY has cut down crime, (if you
believe the Bloomberg/Giuliani media..I'm not sure I
buy it) but at the cost getting rid of a lot of things
that made New York distinctive, such as street
performers.
In solving his crime program, Giuliani learned to
improvise. He quickly scrapped the COMSTAT Program
(the Parent of CODEFOR) and even fired his police
chief when things got out of control, something our
mayor tried to do as well, but was rebuffed by
residents who didn't seem to get that CODEFOR doesn't
work. (I don't know why he didn't take a page out if
Giuliani's book and say the same words: "god help
anyone who get's in my way," but I suppose that's not
RT's style.)
I'm still waiting to see how Bill Bratton's lite
racial profiling strategy (that's what COMSTAT/CODEFOR
is) works in confronting LA's troubles.
I also have some problems with the way Bouza handled
his era. Bouza oversaw and even ordered much excessive
force against political protesters. For all of his
talk about him raining in the thumpers, there were
plenty of them in the 80's and Bouza seemed to pretty
much be on there side.
The other real and perhaps more important problem
which affects police/community relations is those mpls
residents who (you find them in many block clubs,
neighborhood watches..etc) quietly support police
brutality.
Now they won't say it that way, the're likely to say
that since they've never had a problem with police
brutality they're convinced it doesn't happen, but
given the choice they prefer a brutal heavy handed
police force because the news media is always talking
about gangs and police brutality makes them feel
safer.
There's also a semi-liberal ignorant type of racism
(you know, the conversation begins with "I'm not
prejudice but.....) This is Nixon's "silent majority,"
and much of the police federation's policies find
there support the sizable silent majority in
Minneapolis.
Now let's look at what might work and arguably what
does work. Milwaukee has an elected board that is
responsible for the hiring of new police chiefs. I'm
not sure what else they do exactly, but it's a good
bet that they have a lot of say over police policy. I
believe that this is the only solutions for
Minneapolis precisely because we are so divided as a
community and we're not going to change each others
minds. This gives US a say in how are police behave
and who our next chief will be.
Tucson is another place to look. They have a rock
solid documentation system that easily caught those
officers who cross that line.
Also, the county Sheriff is elected and therefore
accountable to the community. If Sheriff Fletcher is
somehow re-elected in Ramsey County, then perhaps it's
a bad idea, but my money says he'll be recalled or
loose next time around, and that's accountability.
To sum up, John Laux showed us that for now, insiders
can't be trusted to reign in rouge cops or change MPD
culture.
With all due respect to Mr. Bouza and Mr. Olson, when
things don't work in New York, there's no reason to
try them here. We need to look at systems that work
for our models. Finally we need a system that brings
ALL of us, activists and "silent majority" types in to
the process.
I believe an elected board or elected chief is the
best way to do that, although this idea has never been
seriously considered. Perhaps because we haven't
learned to respect each other.
Tamir Nolley
Holland
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