It nearly goes without saying that the metaphorical bridge connecting police to the public they are sworn to protect and serve has suffered several damaging blows in recent years. These aforementioned blows — in the form of scandal, secrecy and seemingly unpunished bad behavior — have left many, particularly those in the African-American community, feeling jaded and distrustful of the men and women behind the badge.
In 1988, on NWA’S debut album “Straight Outta Compton,” rapper Ice Cube vehemently voiced his disgust for those in “blue uniforms” via four-letter-expletive-laced rhymes. The notorious chant transcended the bounds of time and space and appeared two decades later and nearly 2,000 miles away in Ferguson, Missouri, after the shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown at the hands of later-absolved officer Darren Wilson.
With this climate as the backdrop, one would imagine that in a room where both law enforcement and residents sat discussing the nuances of race relations, personal experiences with harassment, and the policies behind excessive force, that the air would be thick and tense. That assumption would be correct, yet also incomplete, as a spirit of camaraderie and cordiality began to pervade the space. The occasion, an educational forum hosted by Iota Phi Theta Fraternity Inc., was held at Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s training academy on the city’s east side in Warren Township.
Sgt. Nathan Barlow, a use of force specialist, encouraged attendees to refer to him simply as Nate. He opened up an informal question-and-answer session by stating he would like to be thought of as a friend as opposed to a trigger-happy, baton-yielding foe. “I believe this profession needs a change,” he said.
The needed change, as Barlow explained, involves indoctrinating new recruits in so-called soft skills (racial, cultural and social instruction) for weeks, before they delve into gun training, driving lessons and gym workouts to build their physical stamina. The emotional intelligence-based training should continue from the officer’s time as a novice up to the point of retirement. The purpose, in his words, is to weed out “bad apples” as well as to dismantle the stereotype that all cops are “knuckle draggers, racist rednecks, sell-outs, or Uncle Toms.”
“We are building readers, writers, thinkers and fighters,” Barlow said, referencing the four-tiered descriptive motto painted on pillars around the room. The sergeant also spoke to the fact that the entire community is needed in making change a reality. “The thin blue line,” he said, “becomes stronger when citizens step up alongside officers.”
This symbiotic relationship may seem to some a bit idealistic and utopian — especially considering the fact that nationwide there have been at least 853 reported instances of police-action shootings this year alone, according to data compiled by The Guardian.
“We as police officers understand there is distrust,” said 10-year-veteran, patrolman-turned-new-recruit-trainer Anthony Patterson. Patterson, an Indy native who grew up in the Martindale-Brightwood area, said he understands both sides of the coin, particularly in instances of perceived racial profiling.
“I’m not an officer that stops a lot of cars. I know how that feels,” he said. “I always had that perception when I was coming up — when I got my first car I was stopped quite a bit, and I always wondered, ‘Am I being stopped because of my race? Why am I being stopped so much?’ But as I became a police officer, I understand some of the reasons why, and it’s not necessarily because of race.”
Patterson shared in most instances, he just happened to “fit the description” of a suspect officers were pursuing at the time he was stopped. On the topic of deadly force, Patterson said responding to public inquisitions has been “tough.”
“It’s difficult to answer questions like that without being a Monday morning quarterback. I think we have to understand that police officers are expected to respond daily to situations that are uncertain and rapidly evolving, and we have to make split-second decisions,” he said.
Participants in the interactive forum got a chance to experience that decision-making firsthand as they were led into a small classroom decked out with a firearm simulator. One by one, pairs of attendees volunteered to step into the perspective of an officer as they held either a handgun or Taser and watched as a video of a drunk driver played on the screen in front of them. They each were instructed to respond the way they believed an officer should respond in the scenario.
One role-player decided to hold his fire while yelling at the driver to put his hands where he could see them. Moments later, the inebriated motorist announced he was carrying a weapon and seconds later pulled it out and opened fire. Another participant started shooting right away — only this time, the motorist had no gun, only his fingers pointed straight ahead in a trigger-pulling motion. After each situation, officers engaged onlookers in conversation.
“Who thinks that was a good shot?” said one officer. “What could have been done differently in that situation?” asked another. The answers varied from person to person — some believed officers should try and aim for the legs or knees of a suspect rather than shoot to kill, and others remarked they would personally prefer to fire first and sort the rest out later in a situation like the one portrayed on film.
“It’s easy to look at a video two or three days later or hear a story the very next day and say what you think the officer should have done, but you can’t really say unless you are in that officer’s shoes,” said Patterson. “Every time you have a major event that occurs, not necessarily in our department, we experience the negativity that comes along with that. Any time an officer is arrested, the officer on the street typically has to pay for whatever crime was committed,” he said, remarking he has been asked in the past if he is drunk or physically abusive following news of another officer’s misconduct.
“What I can say is that officers care. We care about our community and the people that we serve,” he said, adding that he encourages citizens to report instances of unfair treatment at the hands of police. “It’s important for the community to interact with officers as it is for officers to interact with the community. It takes everyone to make it better.”
If your organization or group would like to schedule a scenario-based training session with IMPD, contact public information officer Kendale Adams at Kendale.Adams@Indy.gov or (317) 327-3424. Participants are asked to schedule sessions at least three weeks in advance.
