Community Conversation moderators Rev. Marguerite Morris and Jeff Burrell
Lexington Park, MD — The shooting death of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO has prompted a “Community Conversation” about how things are going in St. Mary’s County. The event, sponsored by the St. Mary’s County Chapter of the NAACP, was held September 25th at Dominion Apostolic Church in Lexington Park. A large crowd filled the church’s new sanctuary in St. Mary’s Square for the event.
Both St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron and Maryland State Police Leonardtown Barrack Commander Lt. Michael Thompson spoke of efforts to prevent what happened in Ferguson from happening in St. Mary’s County. With the exception of a few anecdotal incidents relayed during the meeting by members of the audience, there appeared to be general satisfaction with the way police comport themselves, balanced with need for the community to understand how to interact with police if stopped.
Cameron said his office operates under three principles: have the right people, invest in their training and hold them accountable. He said his department is committed to “policing with equality,” adding “We understand the effort needed to build community trust.”
The sheriff said his Office of Profesisonal Responsibility headed by Capt. Mike Gardiner, is in charge of seeing that the sheriff’s office holds its 300 employees accountable.
Cameron said his department collects race-based data for every traffic stop and arrest. In addition to the cameras in the police cars, he said they are considering body cameras, which are viewed by civil libertarians as extra protection against police abuse. Lt. Thompson said later that body cameras are also under consideration by the Maryland State Police.
The sheriff’s department handled 3,936 arrests last year. Cameron said there were only two “Use of Force” complaints in 2012 and none the last two years, There also were two complaints of bias in 2012 but also none the last two years. He said the majority of complaints are generated internally.
“The NAACP has been a great partner to the St., Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office and been more so to its community,” he observed
Cameron urged anyone who sees a problem to report it via a number of methods, including online, by phone to one of his officers. He offered the community opportunities to participate in the department’s Citizens Academy and Citizens Advisory Board and also to sign up to ride along with a deputy.
The sheriff concluded his remarks by saying that the incident in Ferguson, MO has refocused efforts of police agencies to make sure they are operating in a color-blind way. “We work for you,” he told the audience.
Lt. Thompson noted that he was a local boy and Great Mills High School graduate who hung out at St. Mary’s Square as kids do today.
Thompson touted the cooperative effort between the state police and sheriff’s office. “There isn’t a day that goes by that the sheriff and I don’t collaborate,” Thompson said.
Lt. Thompson said that every quarter he reviews spreadsheets on data from traffic stops. “I am the gatekeeper,” he said of those records, indicating he reviews every trooper’s performance to see if there are any “alarming” trends. “It is something that I am very conscious of,” he said.
The Leonardtown Barrack commander said that a brochure is handed out with each interaction between the state police and the public that discusses citizens’ rights and the complaint process. He said the brochures are also available at the barrack.
According to the rules of the meeting established by moderators Rev. Marguerite Morris and Jeff Burrell, questions from the audience would be responded to in writing by Cameron and Thompson. Those answers would also be disseminated to the public.
The first person to speak was the mother of a young black man who she said was model student and citizen who had never neb in trouble. She said he was erroneously stopped, put in handcuffs and detained by police in what was later descried as a case of “mistaken identity.” She said, “I know you have a tough job but there has to be better answers.”
Del. John Bohanan’s wife Mary vouched for the woman. About the incident, she said, “It should not have happened in the first place.” She observed that the young man was driving a nice car. “I think the stereotype is that a young black man shouldn’t have been in such a car,” Bohanan said.
Elfreda Mathis, a retired educator, said she had observed that 80 percent of every group will follow orders, 15 percent won’t and the other five percent don’t have a clue. She said that ratio also applies to the police.
Sheriff’s office Commander of the Administrative Division Brian Eley agreed with Mathis, noting it only takes a couple of individuals to make a large group look bad. He said even he, as a police officer, had a difficult time teaching his children how to interact with other police officers.
Eley’s comments brought a number of similar responses from others about the need for respect on both sides. Janice Walthour, NAACP vice president and chair of their education committee, observed that language is often the culprit on both sides of incidents involving the public and the police. She said the situation often degenerates into a “power struggle.”
School board member Mary Washington said, “We have to keep a positive outlook when stopped. Be respectful. Keep your hands on the steering wheel.” She said situations can be tense because “officers can get killed.”
Washington noted that if an incident did occur and someone is afraid to speak up they can go to the NAACP. “They will advocate for you,” she said.
A small-business owner told the audience, “Sometimes we confuse over-aggressiveness for racism.” She too urged, “Be respectful if pulled over.”
Rev. Morris countered, “Don’t think it can’t happen but I can.”
Ebonee Rothwell, a mediator with St. Mary’s Mediation Center and one of the scribes taking notes of the comments, said, “Everyone is looking for someone to blame. We all have to take responsibility for what we bring forth.”
Merl Evans county commissioner candidate and member of the sheriff’s citizen’s advisory committee, urged everyone to become involved with the sheriff’s office through the committee and the citizen’s academy. He said of the current situation between the police and the citizenry, “We lack communication.”
Comments from Director of the St. Mary’s Memorial Library Kathleen Reif about kids using the libraries as gathering spots led to a discussion about the need for a community and recreation center in the Lexington Park area. Several people suggested the vacant McKay’s as an ideal location, Burrell, executive director of Basketball 4 L.Y.F.E., has been advocating for such a facility and has an online petition for those who would like to support that effort.
Burrell said if the community had such a center, “We will make those guys’ (the police) jobs a lot easier.”
While the comments were mostly positive toward the police, one woman said she has family members who have been profiling victims. “There is police brutality and racism here in St. Mary’s County,” she insisted.
Prior to the question period, Walthour noted that the NAACP is built on the premise that “all individuals will have equal rights based on race.” To that end the NAACP is involved in “civic engagement” such as that night’s meeting, she said.
Walthour said in addition to speaking out at the meeting, another path for civic engagement is to get out and vote. The NAACP is sponsoring a “Bring Souls to the Polls” event on Sunday October 26th during early voting. Everyone will gather after church at 2 p.m. at Miedzinski Park next to the Governmental Center in Leonardtown for free hot dogs and then walk over to the early voting place.
At the Community Conversation’s conclusion both Thompson and Cameron promised written responses to the comments within two weeks once they are transcribed and presented to them.
