"Blue vs. Black,"
By John Burris
During the past several years, there have been some dramatic examples of police brutality against blacks in some of America's major cities. A recently published book describes the problem, and offers some solutions. In 1991, Rodney King was stopped by police while driving down a freeway in Los Angeles. He was arrested at the scene on traffic charges. However, the arrest was not routine. A civilian videotaped Rodney King, who is black, being severely beaten by four white police officers. Eventually, two of the officers were found guilty of assault. The Rodney King case generated a national dialogue on whether law enforcement officials use too much force in dealing with minority Americans. John Burris, a civil rights attorney who defended Rodney King, as well as others who have alleged police brutality, is author of "Blue vs. Black: Let's End The Conflict Between Cops and Minorities." "The heart of the conflict, as I see it, is a failure of communications and a lack of respect by the part of the police officers toward the African-American community. What has developed over a period of time is that police officers are viewed as sort of an occupying force within a community and treat the African-American community as second class citizens, basically not respecting their constitutional rights." Mr. Burris says that some particular situations, including traffic stops by police officers, are aimed directly at blacks. "We have a current version which everyone talks about now called `Driving While Black', `Walking While Black', these are situations where individuals are stopped without probable cause, based upon a hunch. In large measure, it's because they fit a racial profile, a racial stereotype. Or, on freeways, they are stopped by police officers who see a black male driving a car that might be a nice car, or not a nice car at all. They just may think they fit the profile of a drug courier, and stop them." John Burrus says as a result, many African Americans are now suspicious of police officers. "They view them as intruders in the community, as opposed to helpful individuals, as you may have in other communities. Various incidents, like the Rodney King case that I was involved in, where you had a horrific beating, then at the conclusion of that beating, sort of putting the person on the side of the street and leaving them in a hog tie. Disrespecting them only heightens the fear and the concern in the African American community that the police are not there to serve and protect but actually are there to intrude into their daily lives and to treat them whenever they can in a hostile way." There are on-going efforts to train police officers to deal with multicultural environments. Some departments, notes John Burris, are actively recruiting minorities, establishing relationships with community leaders, and beginning to hold police officers accountable for misconduct. "I absolutely would like to be put out of business. I'd rather not have cases, I'd rather not see the individuals come to me (with) scars, black eyes, broken bones, lumps on their heads, crying, going to jail for conduct that was not illegal. I'd rather not see that. I'd rather have it where people have a sense of comfort that they can live in their communities and that this kind of activity doesn't occur. John Burris suggests that one way to change this is to change the way police officers in the United States are trained. "We teach officers now that they have to control a situation. They have to maintain control. They have to use force to do that. Obviously, reasonable force is something that we want police officers to be able to use. But, we also want them to have other skills that are usable as well. I think if they develop better communication skills, have the ability to de-escalate a potential hostile situation, they will develop a better understanding." Police departments, the author says, should be able to admit when they make mistakes. And, he adds - and these are his words -- "communities have to acknowledge the difficulty of police work, and realize that labeling cops as racists does not help to solve the problem." "I think, over time, we can see some positive movements. I will say that there has been progress, slow progress. In some communities, more so than others. As new, young police chiefs come in the fray, and some of the `Old Guard' officers - who have been trained in the old way that force is the only way - are moved out of departments before they have an opportunity to poison the young officers, I think real progress can take place and reforms can be implemented." John Burris's book is "Blue vs. Black: Let's End The conflict Between Cops And Minorities."
