PROFILED The Real Dialogs on Race

PROFILED, The Real Dialog on Police Brutality

Last week at least two Black men were killed by the police.  One of the men killed, Terrence Crutcher, was unarmed with his hands up. There is evidence that the second man killed, Keith Scott, was also unarmed.

In Tulsa OK the police officer who killed Mr. Crutcher has been arrested for manslaughter. There is an investigation on going regarding the death of Mr. Scott.  

The authorities in Charlotte have not released the police video and are being somewhat secretive.

Before the Blacklives Matter Civil rights movement few if any police officers were ever held responsible for deaths that took place while on duty.

A part of the change has been real dialogs among people that video and social media have created. The old police policies, such as hiding the civilian complaints, are anachronistic and only lead to the further mistrust in the government and its police forces. The contrast between Tulsa OK and Charlotte NC is compelling.

These real dialogs are sometimes initiated by the community. Such a dialog took place on September 22, 2016, first at Worcester State University and then in the evening at the College of the Holy Cross.

The documentary PROFILED was produced over a three year period. It memorializes the effect on the families of the men and women killed by the police.  The documentary was directed by award winning producer Kathleen Foster.

The families in the documentary talked of the loss of their children and the loss by children of a parent. I was especially moved by the six year daughter of a victim of police killing who looked bewildered and sad at the same time. An affect of people who are coming to grips with the unthinkable unconsciously show.

Another emotional part of the documentary was a Puerto Rican mother who was crying. She said that after eight months police department finally released the names of the officers who shot her son dead. The secrecy of the police only added to her grief.

I viewed this poor woman’s agony my mind flashed to the secrecy of the Worcester government and its police department. I thought of the joke of the DOJ so called dialogs perpetrated on us by City Manager Augustus. He has continued in his failure to release the report of a racist incident at City Hall.

After the film screening at Worcester State there was a discussion of the root causes of racism, poverty, and discrimination. The panel consisted of Dr. Henry C. Theriault, Dr. Tanya Mears, Kathleen Foster, and Gwen Davis.

The discussion at Holy Cross was more focused on events on campus. One of which was a silent protest against disparate treatment. Mr. Robert Jones moderated the discussion there.

 Several people from each school said that they help local Worcester groups fight for racial and economic justice.

It is time that the City government and the police chief engaged in real dialog with the residents of Worcester regarding police policy. It is time to stop telling us on the one hand there is no broken window policies when it conducts weekly “sweeps” of neighborhood arresting the so called “undesirable”.

 It is time for the Manager, Mayor, and Chief to stop say there is “community policing” when it hides it policies and finances from the community.