This week, hundreds of Indianapolis residents gathered on the lawn of the Indiana Statehouse for one purpose – to rally and advocate for the Black lives that have been lost to police brutality and racial discrimination. The protest, organized by Black Lives Matter, DONT SLEEP, and Indy10 was attended by various races and ages from all over the state.
“When I got to the statehouse, I was amazed by the amount of people who showed up and were engaged,” said Zoe Nicole Black, a University of Michigan student who attended the protest. “Then the group that marched to the statehouse showed up and the energy grew. People clapped and shouted and welcomed this new wave of fellow protestors.”
Since attending the gathering, Black said she looks forward to participating in the next protest and local elections. She said she plans to use her art and video skills to allow more people tell their stories.
The root of these protests lies in police-action shootings, which continue to occur in the African-American community. Many residents question the level of excessive or deadly force often used by police officers but much of their trainings and cultural education processes are unknown to the public.
Lawrence Police Department Deputy Chief Gary Woodruff told the Recorder the department has not formally had a discussion on how to address the specific and more recent police action shootings but informally, officers and surrounding police departments have connected to share what they see happening in the field and media.
When asked if the department has had a distinct discussion on how officers should treat African-Americans, in light of recently highlighted police brutality events, Woodruff said the department has not, as they want to treat everyone with “dignity and respect” without adding tension.
“To go into a situation or a traffic stop with preconceived notions (on how to treat African-Americans), I’m not sure if that’s the best thing to do because that can lead to discomfort and tensions can heighten. We had a training class last year on how to deal with people in crisis situations but it wasn’t directed toward any specific demographic.”
He said the department is trying to keep the lines of dialogue open when it comes to interacting with the community. In the past, the department participated in a panel discussion involving their newly hired officers and churches in the area.
“There is still work to be done on all sides. We want the same thing the public wants and that’s to be treated with dignity and respect,” stated Woodruff.
As social media has exposed much of the police brutality cases within the last few years, the Recorder asked the department how they respond to video recordings of traffic stops and other interactions with police.
“We tell our officers to act as if they are on camera all of the time so we embrace video and if a person feels something inappropriate is happening, they can bring it to our attention and we will address it,” said Woodruff who said although the department hasn’t invested in body cameras as of yet, they plan to add funding for them in their 2017 budget.
Dominic Dorsey, associate director at Adaptive Educational Services located at IUPUI and founder/president of DON’T SLEEP, said he would like to see comprehensive racial equity training in police departments.
“I know they do ‘diversity’ training, but it’s nowhere near as sophisticated as it needs to be when we’re discussing the various populations that police interact with,” he said. “[I suggest] training that unpacks the beliefs and behaviors both conscious and unconscious; personal and institutional; that ultimately result in the oppression of people of color and benefit the dominant group.”
Dorsey mentioned he would also like to learn more about use of force as he said, “We have no idea what standard use of force is because all we hear about is either excessive force or deadly force.”
Woodruff explained the levels of force to the Recorder and which actions take place during each. Level one involves officers being present and on the scene. Level two involves verbally controlling an individual, including officers themselves. Level three includes soft hand techniques such as physically directing someone to a place. Level four are hard hand techniques, which includes taking a person down to the ground. Level five involves intermediate weapons such as pepper spray and baton use. The last level is deadly force.
“Deadly force is the absolute last option,” stated Woodruff.
Due to the diverse makeup of the city and the nation, residents feel as if cultural and racial competency should be apart of officer training. Woodruff said when put into the words of “cultural and racial competency,” the department has not completed this type of training for their officers.
“We expect our officers to treat everyone fairly. On the front side of our hiring, we have made effort to diversify our hiring and recruit additional minority officers to the department to help reflect the diversity of the community we serve.”
The Recorder spoke with Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) officials to learn more about the initiatives they are working on to prevent police brutality cases. Kendale Adams, IMPD public information officer said for the past year and a half the department has been working with the staff of IUPUI’s office of diversity and inclusion to partner on educating new recruits in the department’s cultural awareness courses. The department has also increased their diversity training hours from 40 to 100. Adams explained the department is in the planning stages of developing a Use of Force Review Team, made of both department and community members to look at the department’s use of force to make training recommendations to the chief of police. This team was in development prior to last week’s shootings, he said.
That team will also hear views from community members who may have an opposing view about how IMPD operates under its use of force. In addition, the department has already intertwined de-escalation and communication skills into officer training.
When it comes to extinguishing these tragic occurrences, despite some progression over the years, Dorsey said there is more work to do.
“It’s messed up that so many lives had to be lost in a six-day span before folks who couldn’t bring themselves to say it a year ago are finally able to,” he said. “Now we just need everyone else to get the message. Fair, equitable and accountable policing. It’s all we want. That should never have to be demanded.”
