We’ve heard the story a lot in recent months: Police shoot and kill a black suspect who may or may not have been armed. Outraged locals start by demanding accountability, but often the protests devolve into violent riots.
Eventually, the situation calms down, but the damage has been done. Mistrust between the police and the minority community grows. People end up choosing sides, which furthers the divide.
However, the tragedies have motivated a number of communities, including Charleston, to try to get ahead of the problem. The city, the police department and community leaders have formed the CARE Coalition, the Call to Action for Racial Equality.
“We just aim to stay ahead of what’s going on across the country,” said Charleston Police Chief Brent Webster. “We want to train our people the best we can so they understand that we want to provide quality service and not have any kind of bias policing.”
Webster says he does not believe his department targets individuals because of their race, adding that he will fire and prosecute any officer who demonstrates racial bias. However, the chief does acknowledge the racial disparity in arrests, with blacks arrested at a rate two-and-a-half times that of whites.
Takeiya Smith, co-chair of CARE, is concerned about arrest numbers, but she is cautious about assigning any blame. “The issue we have here with racial disparity in arrests is not unique to West Virginia and not unique to the country; what is unique are the efforts we’re putting forth to address it.”
Smith says the CARE Coalition is meant to be preventive, not reactive. “We want to come together so something bad doesn’t happen, to do whatever we can to prevent that.”
The CARE Coalition initiatives include de-escalation training for police, body cameras and anti-racism training for the officers, regular publication of demographics of arrest statistics, and a youth council that will bring together the police with 18 to 25 year olds to try to improve relations.
The Charleston Police Department and community leaders deserve credit for being foresighted. Their efforts do not guarantee the state’s Capital City won’t have its version of a Charlotte, Baton Rouge or Baltimore, but they do reduce the possibility, while simultaneously strengthening relations between the police and citizens.