I must admit that I shared some of the list members' disappointment that the Mayor's choice for the next Chief of Police ended up being an out-of-town white male.
Being from out of town concerned me for a couple reasons: A non-local chief will not know the trouble spots as well as a local officer who wants to improve our police force and a non-local chief will not have as good of an understanding of the specific local law enforcement needs and community issues. On the other hand, being non-local reduces the chance of them being an insider who will accomplish no real change and gives a greater chance of looking at old problems with some new insights. I'm not sure which side weighs more, but they do balance somewhat. As far as the white male aspect, I guess to an extent it was identity politics and perhaps a little white male guilt on my own part - after all, I know the millions in my bank account and the phat job I have are due solely to the color of my skin and dangling extremities. Seriously though, when one of the larger problems our police department seems to be dealing with aspects of urban society such as significant minority communities that maintain their own cultures and outspoken political or social dissidence, I couldn't help but feel that someone who has spent their whole life on the disadvantaged sides of cultural bias might have a bit more sensitivity in responding to issues that arise. However, it is possibly just as racist (and foolish) to say that someone is going to be more sensitive to these issues because of their skin tone or sexual identity as it is to ascribe any other trait to them solely for that reason. Ultimately, we have to look at the person, their stated beliefs, their past actions, their plans, and decide which individual is best suited to address our city's needs. I'm going to join Peter Schmitz and say that I trust the mayor's judgment on this one. I have a bit of extra trust because I believe he will have consulted Deputy Mayor Fey whom I had the privilege of meeting during Thich Nhat Hahn's Protecting and Serving retreat last summer and can't imagine him not trying to make the best choice he can with the insight gained there. I encourage people to look carefully at all the candidates and question anything and everything before the decision is made, for example, the question of whether or not he'll stick around is a pretty good one, but I hope that when the decision is made, we'll welcome them as a community. When the new Chief of Police takes office, I hope any criticism they receive is based on what they do or do not do rather than whether or not they should have been the person chosen. They're going to have enough of a job taking care of everything we want them to without also having to defend their legitimacy from day one. I'm not saying that we should blindly support the final choice, but we should also not blindly undermine them once they are chosen. - Jason Goray Sheridan, NE __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New Yahoo! Photos - easier uploading and sharing. http://photos.yahoo.com/ REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
