Frank Brown, the pastor of Pine Street Missionary Baptist Church, is a 39-year veteran of the East Point Police Department, where he served as chief. He was interviewed by Staff Writer Ernie Suggs. His comments were edited for space and clarity.
Police administration right now is facing a lot of scrutiny and the truth of the matter is we are dropping the ball. I say that because we are basically standing in the background and allowing prosecutors, jurors and grand jurors to solve our problems within our agencies. If we cannot police our own agencies, we can certainly not police our own communities. Police administrators cannot stand in the background when problems occur in our departments. These incidents are not about Darren Wilson or Daniel Pantaleo. These incidents are about what creates those kinds of problems.
We don’t have enough controls within our departments. It ought to be that we train more often and have tools in place to identify when officers are beginning to get off track a lot sooner. And have that info readily available. Civil obedience isn’t something you can bring about with enforcement. It is about acceptance. Rolling tanks down the street and even putting on body cameras is not the entire solution. We have to have better relationships.
We should not have a Ferguson (type) police department. We should not have a police department that does not have representation of the minorities in the communities.
As a former police officer, I have questions about whether these officers (in Ferguson and New York) were acting within the bounds of reason and authority. Whenever you see a police officer getting in trouble, usually it is a problem with management, supervision and administration within the department
While it is true that there seems to be more incidents of contention between young black males and police officers, there are some things that you need to be aware of that tend to aggravate these situations. We have a tendency as young black males to talk loud. We are more demonstrative. We use our hands more. And there is a natural distrust for police officers. Try step outside of all that when you are confronted by a police officer. And remember that these kinds of things can aggravate the situation. Don’t be demonstrative and don’t act out. That is the best advice that I can give.
