It’s
a thin line
There is a love-hate relationship between the African
American community and the Boston Police. Everyone understands that
the police are needed to protect citizens against criminals. However,
African Americans have every reason to be concerned about how the
police will conduct themselves when they are called.
Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole is acutely aware of the
problem. Her decision to promote a number of black officers to a
higher rank is commendable, especially the elevation of Charles
Horsley to the rank of superintendent. The presence of African American,
Latino and Asian officers as members of the command staff helps
to maintain a sensitivity to racial issues at the top.
Black citizens of Boston are realistic. They do not expect the performance
of the police to be highly professional on every occasion. What
the people expect is a suitable remedy when things go wrong. The
absence of an appropriate remedy also emboldens transgressing police
officers who believe that they can be abusive to citizens of color
without suffering any penalty.
For years blacks in Boston have sought a civilian review board to
hear complaints about police abuse. However, the community has never
had sufficient power to achieve this objective.
Mayor Ray Flynn established the St. Clair Commission, which issued
its report in 1992. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness
of Internal Affairs investigations. The Commission concluded, “our
investigation into the department’s handling of citizen complaints
of police misconduct…was particularly troubling. Our study
revealed an investigative and hearing process characterized by shoddy,
half-hearted investigations, lengthy delays and inadequate documentation
and record-keeping.”
The commission also concluded that “the present Internal Affairs
process is unfairly skewed against those bringing a complaint.”
It would appear that the Internal Affairs Division is now operating
in the manner described by the St. Clair Commission. Citizens’
complaints are ignored, and there is no response to legitimate freedom
of information requests.
Commissioner O’Toole has her work cut out for her.
Romney’s
political bug
When the FBI or other law enforcement agencies decide
to install a listening device, the last thing they would want to
do is inform the suspects that they are under surveillance. The
whole idea is for the suspects to believe that they can speak in
confidence without providing evidence for a later criminal indictment.
Governor Mitt Romney turned this strategy on its head recently when
he called for surveillance of mosques and increased scrutiny of
foreign students. Romney’s spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom missed
the point in his effort to defend the governor. Fehrnstrom merely
indicated that students from the Middle East are more appropriate
targets for racial profiling than students from Newton. Fehrnstrom
fails to understand that it is unwise to tip your hand about the
strategy for investigation.
Of course this presumes that the real objective was to establish
a new strategy. It is clear that Romney used the opportunity of
a speech before the conservative Heritage Foundation for a bit of
race baiting. Either that, or the governor is shockingly unaware
that strategies to plant bugs are hatched and maintained in secret.
“Do you think it’s safe
to call the police?”
|
Melvin B. Miller
Editor & Publisher
Bay State Banner |
