Town hall meeting discusses minority fear of law enforcement, the need for diverse police force
- Raini Singleton
- Sep 5, 2019
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 6, 2019
Upon the doors opening to the public at 5 p.m., individuals at an Oct. 4 town hall meeting on policing and community relations were welcomed to Hendershot’s Coffee with two musical performances, setting the mood for the evening. As more and more people filtered inside, some decided to quietly read books or sip on coffee, while others greeted each other with big smiles and warm hugs.
The tone changed when Mokah-Jasmine Johnson, president of AADM, approached the stage to welcome the audience to the town hall meeting to discuss the issues surrounding the Athens-Clarke County Police Department.
By the time the event began, the coffee shop was completely packed with close to 100 attendees, forcing many to stand.
“There are deeply-rooted problems that existed before Freeman and will continue to exist after if we don’t find a way to collaborate and find mutual grounds of understanding,” Johnson said. “Despite what some people may believe, Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement’s goal is to improve local policing and race relations. It’s not to divide or cause problems.”
The meeting came in the wake of the forced resignation of former Athens police chief Scott Freeman on Sept. 13. Records obtained by The Red & Black detailed a distrust of command staff and issues concerning retention rates that led ACC manager Blaine Williams to ask for Freeman’s resignation.
Johnson then introduced the panel to the crowd, which consisted of interim police chief Mike Hunsinger, District 2 Commissioner Mariah Parker, public interest attorney and director of the Criminal Defense Practicum Russell Gabriel, former Athens Mayor Gwen Ingram O’Looney and community organizer and Commissioner-elect for District 5 Tim Denson. A mediator was present to pose questions to the panel and allow room for debate and discussion among the panelists.
The panelists discussed the events leading to Freeman’s departure from the ACCPD, issues surrounding racial profiling and what community-oriented policing is and how it could be better implemented into the ACCPD. This led to discussions on the fear and discomfort minorities hold in regard to law enforcement.
“Community-oriented policing is building partnerships with members of the community and that is both individual citizens and the institutions in the community — schools, businesses, churches — and then utilizing those partnerships to address community problems that we all face,” Hunsinger said. “That’s what community-policing is, and that’s what our people have been doing for over 20 years.”
However, Hunsinger’s statements on the functions of the ACCPD did not align with some views in the Athens area.
“I was out in my district yesterday, walking onto people’s porches and asking if there was anything they were concerned about,” Parker said. “They were very willing to tell their stories of perceived harassment and profiling and their lingering discontent with some of the actions that police officers had done in the district. I know there’s a lot of distrust in the community, younger folks especially, who perceive themselves not as subjects to be protected but targets waiting for something bad to happen.”
This controversial point was furthered when the panelists discussed the major disparity that exists between law enforcement engaging with the community and exercising their authority in more high-intensity situations, especially given the incident on June 1 when former ACCPD officer, Taylor Saulters, hit a fleeing suspect with his patrol vehicle. Several officers were upset about the way the incident was handled, records show, feeling the decision was made too hastily or that Saulters was never at fault.
“Just because something is legal does not mean it is right,” Denson said. “Those laws in the first place that say it is legal, they themselves could be corrupt. If ‘proper use of force’ was to hit [the suspect] with his car, that was inappropriate.”
Gabriel also elaborated on issues of similar circumstances.
“While training and getting out into the community and talking to people and being nice with people is definitely half of the equation, the other half of that is what happens when the switch is flipped and suddenly law enforcement goes into authority mode,” Gabriel said. “To me, part of [police] training that needs to be adjusted is the training around assertion of authority.”
There were many times the audience displayed their feelings through applause or other sounds of agreement or disapproval, including when the need for a more diverse and inclusive police force was discussed.
Hunsinger said while he strives to hire officers that are “representative of the population,” it is increasingly difficult to do so. However, efforts are being made to perform community outreach, including the recent hiring of an officer who can speak Spanish and thus better communicate with the Latino community, he said.
Other methods of policing are also being considered for increased enforcement, including having officers exit their vehicles and other forms of community outreach that place a focus on building relationships with those in the Athens community.
“Each one of [our] officers has a job to do community outreach,” Hunsinger said. “To get out of their patrol cars, walk the neighborhoods, walk the businesses and get to know people.”
Upon the closing of the forum, Johnson assured that policing conversations would continue to occur as the various organizations planned more town hall meetings.
Kira Hegeman, a graduate student in art education at the University of Georgia, said the event was overwhelmingly positive and was an excellent starting point to make resolutions on the policing issue.
“I think having open forums and having people get to know each other and communicate is the best way to make change,” Hegeman said. “I think it’s very important to have people come out and show their support by just being here and give those people a voice.”
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