Today Sisters In Christ arranged for a face-to-face meeting with members of the Davenport Police department and a few black families along with their young drivers or soon-to-be drivers. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss black encounters with the police during traffic stops and how we can work together to make that safer for our youths. We wanted to educate our young drivers on what to do and what not to do and discuss the concerns African American families have with these encounters. Our goal is to help our children better navigate those situations while wanting to support our officers.
We were blessed to have Davenport Chief of Police Paul Sikorski and officer Andrew Harris, who leads the Good Neighbor Project, join us for this important discussion.
We had several families in attendance, and after an introduction of both officers, we jumped right in. It was refreshing to see that the officers were prepared and encouraged everyone to ask the tough questions. The officers shared their perspectives and we learn about their policies and procedures. Below, please see some of the questions we tackled in the meeting.
Does the Davenport police department have any diversity training specifically around dealing with African American car stops?
Is there any study going on or has gone on to determine if there is any racial profiling occurring?
How are you trained to identify a panic attack or someone who is just fearful of the police versus mental health issues or anything else? How do you deal with it?
Are there plans to add mental health first responders to the department?
Recently a young military man of color was stopped on a dark highway. Because he feared for his life, he slowly drove to the nearest gas station. The officer pulled his gun on him and pepper-sprayed him, and he could have easily been killed. How do you recommend our young people handle this situation when they may indeed be afraid to lose their lives on dark highways?
I don’t understand why when someone is running to get away from a traffic stop when no evidence of a crime of wrongdoing is established, that person can end up with 7 or more bullets in his back?
Has the police ever done any training to understand the history of the black communities distrust of them?
Young drivers are conflicted with police stops. They feel they need to record their possible demise. How has the department trained officers to deal with the possibility that that person may want to record the encounter?
Is there a way to inform African American people about areas, towns etc. that may be more dangerous for their young drivers to drive through so that they can avoid them and not put themselves at risk?
Do you have a process in place to allow police officers to report other police officers who abuse their positions?
Recently the governor strengthens qualified immunity for the police; this had made some blacks feel that bad officers are even more empowered. What safeguards have been put in place to stop that from happening?
The conversation was meaningful, helpful, and frank at times. It was a blessing to see that our young people engaged, asked questions, and learned a lot from our two-hour meeting. Us parents also learned a lot about our local police department, which was very empowering. In the end, we agreed we should have more of these events for other black and people of color families so we can strengthen our community.
In conclusion, we had a great meeting that was very beneficial for everyone. Although we believe there remain some areas that need more work, for example, understanding the full impact of bias in policing, I’m thrilled that the overall event offered great information for our youth and their families.
Special thanks to Officer Harris and Officer Sikorski for taking the time to meet with us, pray with us, and helping to comfort our children and our community around a real area of pain and distrust. Also, special thanks to Deb for recommending this event.