“A lot of people have issues or concerns about policing, but most of the times those concerns are only limited to that one specific incident that occurred,” said Ferguson Police Chief Delrish Moss. “The way we are doing things now, you actually have an opportunity to be a part of what the future of policing is. I’d like to see more people participating in that.”
On Sunday, June 3, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) held its third Policy Forum addressing police encounters, as well as stop, search, and arrest policies, at the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis’ Ferguson Community Empowerment Center.
Policies the DOJ is looking to enforce include no ticket quotas; no consideration of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and disability in investigating, searching, or restraining a person); no stopping a citizen to check for arrest warrants; and reporting all stops for review by a superior.
“The whole idea of the forum is to make sure that the policies that we are writing for the police department are policies that our citizens can trust and believe in,” said City Manager of Ferguson De’Carlon Seewood.
DOJ attorneys Charles Hart and Amy Senier and Jaclyn Weiner, a contract community outreach specialist, facilitated group discussion at three separate tables. They provided three different scenarios of police encounters then asked what people expected to see happen, what they want to see happen, and what they don’t want to see happen.
The first scenario was a group of teenagers walking down a sidewalk when a police officer drives by. In all three groups, race quickly became a topic of conversation.
“If there were six white people and a white officer drove by, they would keep driving in Ferguson, but because it’s blacks they would stop,” said Richard Jackson, a concerned citizen. “They may not be dressed right, they may be sagging – none of that’s a law in Ferguson. They have a right to do that.”
Other people thought that the police officer should show some sign of positive communication in hopes of connecting with the teens.
“Most youth, they speak back,” said Ferguson Council Member Ella Jones. “So just a wave, a ‘hey,’ a ‘hi,’ it breaks down the barrier for both parties.”
Most agreed the officer should keep driving and not stop.
The next scenario was a police car parked on the side of the road when car drives by with a really loud muffler. Having a really loud muffler is a citable offense in Missouri. During group conversation, Moss entered the room to observe. When asked what he would do in this scenario, he referred to Florida legislation.
He said the Miami Police Department issued tickets for defective equipment that would be automatically dismissed with a $10 fine, on the equipment was fixed. Moss said, “I think that’s one of the things we are going to be suggesting here,” referring to a Correctable Citations policy the department is looking to implement.
“As we develop policies, we want input from the people that we serve,” said Assistant Chief Frank McCall. “I’m a firm believer that we don’t police our community, the community polices itself and we police it together. Our primary focus is about service.”
There was also some pointed discussion surrounding community policing.
“You can’t do this job by yourself. It requires witnesses, it requires people giving you information, it requires trust,” Moss said.
“Community policing, although it sounds like a new concept, it’s really an old fashioned concept that talks about getting out into the neighborhood, learning who the people are, and that’s how you help solve crime. That’s also how you prevent crime and lead people to more productive lives.”
