At 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, December 11, about 80 students from the Jennings School District prepared to march from Jennings Senior High School to the city’s police department. They chose to protest outside of normal school hours – in a manner that would not disrupt classes, said Jennings Superintendent Tiffany Anderson.
They first set off down Cozens Avenue toward City Hall. From there, they caught a school bus to Jennings Station Road and West Florissant Avenue, where they resumed their march. Anderson led the march with a bullhorn in hand and a pair of sneakers on her feet.
The district became the latest to participate in protests following grand jury decisions, both here and in New York, not to indict white police officers in the deaths of unarmed African Americans.
“We had class last week when all the protests were going on and students were very emotional and concerned,” Anderson said.
Anderson met with students and asked them to come up with reasons why they were protesting.
“We tell them, ‘Protest without progress is just noise.’ And we’d rather not make noise this week,” she said.
At the police station, Lt. Col. Troy Doyle with the St. Louis County Police Department facilitated positive dialogue between police and students. Doyle was joined by Sgt. Ray Rice and Officer William Munson, both with the St. Louis County Police Department. All of the officers are African-American men. Jennings contracts for police services with the county.
“We grew up in North City and North County,” Lt. Col. Doyle said. “Some of us have went through the same things in regards to being harassed by the police. We can relate to their feelings.”
Anderson described Lt. Col. Doyle as a “trusted member” of the community and said the students looked forward to sharing their experiences with him.
Kievonn Monger, 15, a sophomore at Jennings Senior High School, was one of those students. In a phone interview with The St. Louis American, Kievonn spoke of a recent encounter he had with a police officer in Jennings.
“He pulled up on me very aggressively and almost hit me with the car,” Monger said.
With one hand on his gun, the officer demanded to see the boy’s hands, stating that he fit the description of an armed young, black male wearing his same attire. When he was told to put his hands on the hood of the car, he said he felt like “less than a person.”
“I don’t agree with this stereotypical mind frame,” he said of the incident.
At the police station, students – primarily eighth graders and high school students from Jennings Junior and Senior high schools – presented a list of demands. They demanded better community engagement, a platform for students to voice their concerns, an increase in the department’s minority hiring to at least 15 percent by next year, and body camera use by November 2015. Lt. Col. Doyle said the demands weren’t unreasonable.
They also demanded the appointment of a Special Prosecutor for police-involved fatal shootings and a change in shooting tactics.
“They don’t have to shoot to kill,” Monger said.
Police invited students to enroll in the teen police academy next month and agreed to conduct quarterly-scheduled meetings. With regards to appointing a Special Prosecutor, Lt. Col. Doyle advised students about the importance of voting for elected officials they want to hold office.
When asked whether the demands would be implemented throughout the entire St. Louis County, Lt. Col. Doyle said that’s the plan. But as of right now, his main focus is North County.
To be in a position to make change is one reason why Monger said he still wants to be a police officer. For now, he said he hopes that police officers learn from their mistakes so that more young men won’t have to die.
Lt. Col. Doyle stressed that everyone in law enforcement is not bad. But he said it’s important to identify bad officers and eliminate those people from the force. The community need to see more minorities in supervisory roles within the police department, he said, and not just for appearances sake.
“People put black faces in places for the appearance,” Lt. Col. Doyle said, “but don’t give those people the authority to make change.”
Follow this reporter on Twitter: @BridjesONeil.
