When unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. in 2014, it awakened rage, confusion, and heartbreak across the nation – paving the way for new conversations and lessons in law enforcement.
Over the last few years, Central Methodist University has hosted an event called “Lessons from Ferguson” – an open forum and panel discussion regarding the incident and its aftermath. To continue the conversation, Central’s Pi Lambda Alpha – the CMU fraternity for criminal justice majors – recently presented “Lessons from Ferguson Part 3: Helping to Build Trust between Police and the Community.”
The event was moderated by CMU Professor of Criminal Justice Marco Tapia, a 28-year veteran of public service within the public safety and public policy component of the government. His service has included everything from working patrol and community-based functions to specialized counter-drug operations on the southwest border of the United States. He managed Missouri’s Narcotics Control Program, and also has served as an adjunct instructor for the Institute of the Intergovernmental Research and LSU’s Academy of Counter-Terrorism.
Welcomed panelists were Dr. Jackie Anson, Reverend David Ballenger, Director John Worden, and Dr. Kandace L. Fisher-McLean. Stated when the event kicked off, the overall goal was to explore the relationship between police and communities – primarily, minority communities, and the conflicts that exist between the two groups.
A popular opinion from most audience members and panelists was that the death of Michael Brown was the “match thrown on the fuel,” implying problems between police and the community existed before his death, and this sad circumstance provided people an outlet to express frustration of that fact.
“There has to be a relationship developed between law enforcement and the community,” Ballenger said. “There has to be a level of respect, or we’ll fail.”
Reverend Ballenger is the pastor of Log Providence Missionary Baptist Church, where he has served for nearly 30 years. He has been an active community leader throughout his career. He is a retired IBM executive, and has redirected his passion as the president of the Columbia Public School Board, as a Board of Trustee for the University of Missouri’s Hospital and Clinics, and as a Gubernatorial Appointee to the Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission, where he has served under three governors.
According to Worden, law enforcement needs to be held to a higher standard and must take some of the responsibility for the disconnect that exists between the two groups.
“We get caught up in the ‘protect’ part but we sometimes forget the ‘serve’ part,” he said.
After a 21-year law enforcement career – which included operational assignments such as crisis negotiations team commander, training and recruitment sergeant, field training officer, and traffic investigations – Worden accepted a position as the director of MU Extension’s Law Enforcement Training Institute (LETI), a position he has held since 2011. In January, he was named senior director of the MU Center for Excellence in First Responder Education, and in April, he received a gubernatorial appointment to the Missouri Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) Commission – helping determine training and licensing standards for law enforcement officers in Missouri.
His thoughts led to discussion on population growth and the struggle it creates between communities and law enforcement.
“There is stress on the infrastructure when you have so many people near one another,” Anson said. “This growth – it’s a strain. Specifically with law enforcement, if you’re all of the sudden faced with an influx of 20,000 people in a short period of time, you’re going to have problems.”
Anson, professor of psychology at CMU, has conducted significant research surrounding political psychology, motivational psychology, and existential psychology. She earned her Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in New York in the field of social and personality psychology.
With so many on the panel associated with Columbia, the formerly mentioned discussion led to a focus on an existing issue in Columbia – a major lack of law enforcement. According to Worden, Columbia has 68 patrol officers – only three more than it had nearly 30 years ago, even after the city has experienced significant growth.
According to the panelists, in circumstances such as this, law enforcement is unable to meet the needs of communities, leading to mistrust and misunderstanding, and further driving the stake that separates the two groups.
“It really comes down to money,” Worden said, as he spoke about low officer training budgets and the starting salary for officers not being high enough.
Of course, civilians having an instilled “fear” of law enforcement is another huge factor. In an effort to help resolve this problem, the panel discussed the importance of community policing, or law enforcement becoming present in their communities – experiencing life equally and getting to know one another as human beings.
And while all of these topics are small-scale solutions, according to the panelists, there’s an obvious problem still staring everyone in the face: each and every person has implicit bias and so many still try to deny that it exists. According to the panel, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. Bias and racism exist in the unconscious mind for countless reasons, including one’s home life and environment. No one can control those situations and the opinions that are learned as one grows into an adult, but they can acknowledge its existence, and take steps toward correcting it in oneself – thus also correcting it for future generations.
Branching off this idea, panelists all agreed they would support implicit bias testing for police officers, and that it should start at the top of the totem pole.
“But not only for police officers – I think it’s good for all of us,” Fisher-McLean said. “We all have biases and the sooner you recognize that, the better.”
Fisher-McLean serves as an associate professional housing and environmental design specialist with the University of Missouri Extension based in St. Louis. She also is the national coordinator for Healthy Homes Partnerships. She became interested in older adult’s perceptions of crime in Ferguson in 2009 after receiving a “JumpStart the Conversation” grant to address aging-in-place issues in the community – a project that received national attention and led to her being the recipient of the International Architectural Research Centers Consortium King Award for Ph.D. research.
Nearly three hours of heated, tough discussions later, the panel and audience successfully shared ideas and opinions constructively, diving into the topic of community and law enforcement from every angle. And as the evening came to a close, Fisher-McLean left the audience, mostly comprised of college students, with a final thought:
“It’s fine to be angry about things, but please provide a constructive solution. That is the only way to create change. What can you do to make things better?”