A local civil rights leader said Friday that this week’s police incidents that left black men dead in Minnesota and Louisiana did not justify the deaths of five Dallas police officers at a peaceful protest.
“Whatever the reason, it still doesn’t justify these shootings we’re seeing,” said Judi Hill, president of the NAACP’s Akron chapter. “There’s got to be a change.”
Before change can come, Hill said, people need to recognize that racial biases still exist — even ones that aren’t purposeful or malicious. She said white people may not realize they treat black people differently until it’s pointed out to them — and often, they respond with hostility.
“People don’t understand their inherent and implicit biases,” she said. “They’re there. And until we address them, they’re staying here ... We can pretend these issues don’t exist, but they do.”
Implicit biases inevitably lead police to treat black people differently, she said.
Recently, she heard from a woman who has two sons. One of the half-brothers is black and the other is white. During an encounter with an Akron police officer, the woman saw firsthand how her black son was treated with less respect than her white son.
Though Hill said she hears of these incidents in Akron, they’re not as common as in some other communities.
“People here respect the work of police,” she said, “as long as they feel like they’re being treated fairly.”
She said recent incidents of police shootings, including the slayings of black men in a suburb of St. Paul, Minn., and in Baton Rouge, La., illustrate a growing problem in the U.S.
According to The Guardian, black men age 15 to 34 made up 15 percent of all lethal shootings by police last year. That same demographic makes up just 2 percent of the U.S. population.
“Overwhelmingly, the number of black and brown men being killed — not just shot — by police is uneven,” Hill said.
Hill urged everyone, not just police, to take implicit bias tests offered by several sources online.
“It’s just you and the computer, and you can get a sense for yourself of what sorts of bias you might have,” she said. “It’s amazing what you might learn about yourself.”
When it comes to police, she said no one with an extreme bias of any kind should enforce the law.
In that same vein, Hill said incidents of police brutality against the black community might be prevented if police departments reflect the communities they serve.
“If you don’t have people who look like the folks you serve, then the way you approach them will be one-sided,” she said. “When you have a variety of individuals from different cultures, from different backgrounds, they can provide input in the way you do your policing.”
She criticized Summit County Sheriff Steve Barry specifically for not having enough diversity in his police force.
Barry, who has met with the NAACP to discuss ways to improve relations with the black community, said the lack of diversity isn’t a matter of bias, but of qualifications.
“Our message is the same as APD (the Akron Police Department) and other law enforcement agencies: Send us good candidates and we will certainly look at them,” Barry said.
Barry said his office is having a tough time finding deputy candidates of any race who can pass the required exams and background checks. He isn’t sure of the reason for this problem.
Hill acknowledged a lack of interest may have resulted from the trend of high-profile police shootings.
“It might be discouraging to anyone to want to pick up that career path,” she said. “It’s a sign of the times.”
However, she said Barry could find qualified black candidates if he tried harder.
Barry said his office has faced challenges in the community at large due in part to widespread coverage of police shootings across the country.
In the past few years, he has assigned deputies to attend community events, given presentations in schools about making good choices and held a festival for kids last year at a low-income housing complex in Twinsburg.
“We’re always looking for favorable community relations,” Barry said. “The problem is, sometimes the message doesn’t seem to work.”
Barry said the majority of his office’s recent offers to speak to organizations, schools and churches went unanswered.
“So we’re trying.”
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ. Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.