Diversity and sensitivity training, grouped with instruction regarding community relations, proper police conduct, racial profiling, and effective conflict resolution are definitely aids to a comprehensive training experience. You can’t train a person to be compassionate, but I do believe that intervention may increase sensitivity to certain situations. For example, people with physical or mental disabilities may not be able to obey every command that an officer issues. It should not be justified to kill an unarmed person because of not following the command of “put up your hands.” Timothy, my late cousin, was a victim of polio as a child. He recovered and lived to be an adult, but the condition left him unable to raise his hands above his waist. He never encountered aggressive police. He might have been killed merely because he would not have been able to raise his hands above his head. In addition, the training is too rigid in some instances, without any allowances for reasonable exceptions. Even in a situation of imminent danger, officers who decide to shoot don’t have to shoot to kill. In reference to interacting with citizens without killing them, and all things being equal, police officers should use the same strategies with black people that they use with most white people. It is interesting that even when officers know that white people are armed, many still survive police contact, as opposed to blacks, especially black men. So, the difference in outcomes is more than just elevated training.
For reasons that some understand, and others do not, I chose to conduct sensitivity training for police departments. Officers need to understand the real consequences of their actions when a homicide could have been avoided. I represent the face and voice of so many mothers, and I structured my training sessions in such a way that I could be of most value, based on my professional and personal experiences. Although I feel that the cadets benefited from my presentations, I realize that not all police chiefs would welcome me, merely because of our family’s wrongful death lawsuit. Still, I am not deterred by that attitude and plan to continue offering the training in places where I am welcomed and as often as my resources of time, energy, and availability of travel will allow.
Dr. Lorie Fridell, from the University of South Florida, is another academic working in this field. She developed a training program that is getting attention. It is a training program for police departments seeking to address their officers’ implicit biases and unconscious sources of prejudiced behavior. After police-involved killings of black males in Ferguson, Missouri, and elsewhere, and the ongoing impact of the Black Lives Matter movement, the call for improved, less biased policing in the United States continues to be heard. A Gallup poll released in 2015 found that Americans’ trust in the police is at a twenty-two-year low and communities of color remain particularly leery.31 I called Dr. Fridell and congratulated her on this innovative training, which has been successful in cities around the country.
Aggressive officers may not perform according to their training even after becoming certified. Here is one example: Officers in Chattanooga were terminated because of misconduct in the beating of a resident, which was caught on a video recording. They appealed to get reinstated. When their hearing was scheduled, I traveled to Chattanooga to attend the hearing sessions. One of the officers, who didn’t deny his abusive actions, said, “What I did was no different than what other officers do, and they weren’t fired.” It was so sad that he didn’t recognize or acknowledge wrongdoing—but he was telling the truth. How he treated that citizen was confirmation of the reputation of that police department. The victim of his abuse was still living, while other officers had killed Leslie and other citizens and were not terminated.
Can police officers resist the temptation to abuse the rights and privileges of their position? Does the departmental culture encourage its employees to resist or tolerate certain types of misconduct? The police supervisors’ style can have an impact on the patrol officer. In addition to classroom training, the quality of field supervision is important. That experience significantly influences the patrol officer’s behavior. An active style of leading by example seems to be most influential. Patrol officers were twice as likely to use force if that negative behavior was modeled by the supervisor. Consider the actions demonstrated in the movie Training Day.32 Other policing leadership styles are traditional, innovative, and supportive.33
In addition to providing the best training for new officers, there are other suggestions for curbing brutality. Stronger in-service training and recognizing educational achievements of officers can have positive influences on their behavior. Early intervention with counseling or more training is recommended to address performance problems. In a study to investigate early warning (EW) systems, intervention resulted in reductions in citizen complaints and involvement in use-of-force incidents. EW is only one effective management tool. The enforcement of disciplinary standards and a climate of accountability are additional effective strategies.34
There needs to be accountability and oversight. Amnesty International suggests that this should include prosecutions, discipline, monitoring and tracking officers involved in repeated complaints, external oversight, and national data collection on police use of force. Unfortunately, there is yet to be a national tracking program. The Brown Watch: News for People of Color keeps track of many of these police abusive situations.35 Local, state, and federal authorities should ensure that excessive force will not be tolerated, that officers will be held accountable for their actions, and that those responsible for abuses will be brought to justice. Police departments should be required to keep detailed records on use of force, in-custody deaths and injuries, number and type of complaints filed, and their disposition and outcome.
The fight for justice is ongoing. Yes, it is a fight, but not one that will be won with guns, other instruments of violence, or physical confrontations. After nearly fourteen years of being without Leslie’s physical presence, and participating in numerous activities opposing police brutality, I remain constant in seeking solutions to end this horrible epidemic of police misconduct. Carefully screening applicants to employ the right people is a positive strategy toward solutions. Fighting violence with more violence is not the answer. These incidences of some people killing police officers must stop. Those murders are just as horrible as those of police officers killing citizens for no reason. I believe there are nonviolent measures that can address both situations.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter from the Birmingham, Alabama jail on April 16, 1963. The letter is valid today and reads as follows:
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait,” but when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at a whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your Black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society, then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait.36
Dr. King further stated in his letter that the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The situation in which we are faced is that unarmed citizens continue to be murdered by law enforcement officers. As long as people are unwilling to face the challenge of the obvious controversy that emerges when one speaks out against police brutality, nothing will change. No, it will never be over as long as we, as a society, continue to accept this injustice and abuse and there is no accountability for those crimes.
Over the years, people have kept inquiring, “When will the book be completed?” At first, I would respond with a self-imposed deadline date, which I never reached. Finally, I just said, “When I have said all that I want to say.” Considering the book’s title, it seemed as though I would never finish, because these tragedies continued to occur. When something else would happen,
I wanted to include that victim’s story in the book. Sadly, unless things change, there will be more of these unjust homicides.
In closing, I am sharing a poem that Stefan wrote for inclusion on Leslie’s funeral program. He speaks for all who love Leslie. We feel so blessed that he wrote this memorial tribute to his brother. The poem’s title is inscribed on Leslie’s gravestone, and it is always read at his memorial services and sensitivity workshops I conduct. Like so many families, we are continuing to seek peace.
There Will Never Be Another You
Memories of you are all I have to get me through the day
Emptiness fills my soul now that you have gone away
I’m searching for any piece of you that I can hold on to
One thing is for certain my brother, there will never be another you.
As your little brother, I always let you lead the way
Throughout my life, you held my hand
Making sure that I never went astray
Who’ll be my guiding soldier, now that you’re not here to look up to
There’s no one else my brother, because there will never be another you.
Certain people are out to portray you as a man who was filled with hate
But as your little brother, it’s up to me to set the record straight
Anyone who knew you, knew that you were a man full of life and filled
with love, my brother, it’s the real you, we’ll be thinking of
You touched the lives of your family and friends for 37 years
We’re all trying to be strong, even as we’re fighting back the tears
There will never be another like you, my brother
For your life played like a melody reminiscent of a jazz tune
It was just over a week ago, you and I were able to be together
We had so much fun and laughter, I wanted those moments to last forever
Your smile brightened the day of all your friends and all your family
There’s no other, like you my brother Les,
I love you and you will forever live inside of me
We love you and miss you.
—Stefan D. Prater
Notes
PROLOGUE
1. Nancy Friday, My Mother/Myself: The Daughter’s Search for Identity (New York: Random House, 1977).
2. Keith Brown, Sacred Bond: Black Men and Their Mothers (Boston: Little, Brown, 1998).
3. Clifton L. Taulbert, When We Were Colored (New York: Penguin Books, 1989).
INTRODUCTION
1. Margaret D. Hughes, “You’re My Guest in Thought,” http://www.heavensent2002.com/Friends.html.
2. “Shooting of Oscar Grant,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Police_Shooting_of Oscar_Grant.
3. Elizabeth Kübler-Ross, On Death and Dying (New York: Macmillan, 1969).
4. “Man Charged in Shooting of Two Dogs,” Chattanooga Times Free Press, December 15, 2009.
5. Kadiatou Diallo with Craig Wolff, My Heart Will Cross This Ocean (New York: Ballantine, 2003).
6. Lezley McSpadden with Lyah Beth LeFlore, Tell the Truth and Shame the Devil: The Life, Legacy, and Love of My Son Michael Brown (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2016).
7. “Triangulation (social science),” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation_(social_science).
8. Norman K. Dezin, The Research Act in Sociology (Chicago: Aldine, 1970).
9. Kathleen M. DeWalt and Billie R. DeWalt, Participant Observation: A Guide for Fieldworkers (Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press, 2002).
CHAPTER 1
1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Heart Disease Facts,” www.cdc.gov.heartdisease.facts.htm.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Women and Heart Disease Fact Sheet,” https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_women_heart.htm.
3. Annie Kelly, “Traffic Accidents Are the ‘Biggest Killer of Young People Worldwide’ Report Says,” Guardian, May 2, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2012/may/02/traffic-accidents-biggest-killer-young-people.
4. Scott Travis, “Homicide Leading Cause of Death of Young Black Men, Says FAU Research,” Sun Sentinel, April 10, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/10/leading-cause-of-death-young-black-men-homicide_n_3049209.html.
5. Ben Brumfield, “Massive Florida Sinkhole That Swallowed a Man Reopens,” August 20, 2015, CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/20/us/florida-sinkhole-seffner/index.html.
6. “The 43 Victims of Oso’s Landslide,” Seattle Times, March 21, 2015, http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/the-43-victims-of-osos-landslide/.
7. “Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Hook_Elementary_School_shooting.
8. “Overland Park Jewish Community Center Shooting,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overland_Park_Jewish_Community_Center_shooting.
9. Alan Wolfelt, “The Mourner’s Bill of Rights,” Griefwords, http://griefwords.com/index.cgi?action=page&page=articles%2Fmourners.html&site_id=7.
10. Rick Wilking, “Missouri Legislature Upholds ‘Stand Your Ground,’ Concealed Carry Law Requiring No Permits,” September 16, 2016, RT News, https://www.rt.com/usa/359604-missouri-stand-ground-guns.
11. “Stand-Your-Ground Law,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stand-your-ground_law.
12. Greg Botelho and Holly Yan, “George Zimmerman Found Not Guilty of Murder in Trayvon Martin’s Death,” July 14, 2013, CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/13/justice/zimmerman-trial/index.html.
13. Tonyaa Weathersbee, “The Extermination of Jordan Davis: An Empty Verdict, a Hollow Victory,” February 16, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/16/opinion/weathersbee-dunn-davis-verdict/index.html.
14. Eliott McLaughlin and John Couwels, “Michael Dunn Found Guilty Of 1st Degree Murder in Loud Music Trial,” October 1, 2014, http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/01/justice/michael-dunn-loud-music-verdict/index.html.
15. Katheryn K. Russell, “What Did I Do to Be So Black and Blue? Police Violence and the Black Community,” in Police Brutality: An Anthology, ed. Jill Nelson (New York: W. W. Norton, 2000), 135–48.
16. Robin D. G. Kelly, “‘Slangin’ Rocks . . . Palestinian Style’: Dispatches from the Occupied Zones of North America,” in Nelson, Police Brutality, 21–59.
17. C. K. Ferreri, “It’s 2016 and Lynchings Are Still Happening,” Odyssey, December 12, 2016, https://www.theodysseyonline.com/2016-lynchings-still-happening.
18. Michael Muskal, “Black Man Found Hanging in Mississippi: Why This Story Haunts the Nation,” Los Angeles Times, June 1, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-mississippi-history-20150320-story.html.
19. Donald Ayotte, “In Delaware, They Lynch Negros,” RedState, July 1, 2013, http://www.redstate.com/diary/delawarewindjammer/2013/07/01/in-delaware-they-lynch-negros/.
20. “Murder of James Byrd Jr.,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Byrd_Jr.
21. Dr. F. K. King, MD, “Autopsy Report of Leslie Prater,” March 24, 2004, Office of Hamilton County Medical Examiner, Chattanooga, Tennessee.
22. “Homicide,” The Free Dictionary, http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/homicide.
23. Candice Combs, “Autopsy Reveals Struggle,” Chattanooga Times Free Press, March 27, 2004.
24. Office of the Medical Examiner, Dr. Bruce Levy, Forensic Medical Case MEC04-0088, January 26, 2004.
25. Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, s.v. “abrasion,” “contusion,” “laceration” (Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1990).
26. Dahlia Lithwick, “Dying of Excitement,” Slate, June 11, 2015, http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/06/excited_delirium_deaths_in_police_custody_diagnosis_or_cover_up.html.
27. David Kleinman
, “Excited Delirium,” EMSWorld, March 1, 2009, http://www.emsworld.com/article/10320570/excited-delirium.
28. “Leslie Vaughn Prater Death Ruled Homicide,” Chattanoogan, March 26, 2004, http://www.chattanoogan.com/2004/3/26/48548/Leslie-Vaughn-Prater-Death-Ruled-Homicide.aspx.
29. “Shooting of Michael Brown,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown; “Death of Eric Garner,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Eric_Garner.
30. “Selma (film),” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selma_(film).
31. Candice Combs, “Autopsy Reveals Struggle,” Chattanooga Times Free Press, Saturday, March 27, 2004, A6.
32. “Henderson Family Files Suit over Fatal Traffic Stop Shooting,” Chattanoogan, April 28, 2004, http://www.chattanoogan.com/2004/4/28/51173/Henderson-Family-Files.
33. “Abner Louima,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abner_Louima.
34. Jason Rydberg and William Terrill, “The Effect of Higher Education on Police Behavior,” Police Quarterly 13 (2010): 92–120.
35. “Shooting of Michael Brown.”
36. Katie Moisse, “1 in 68 Kids Has Autism, CDC Says,” ABC News, March 27, 2014, http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2014/03/27/1-in-68-kids-has-autism-cdc-says/.
37. To see an example of the arm bar technique, review the YouTube video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Zub3HsCLw.
CHAPTER 2
1. Ashley Frantz and Holly Yan, “South Carolina Shooting: Officer Charged and Fired; Protesters Demand Justice,” April 9, 2015, http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/08/us/south-carolina-officer-charged-with-murder/index.html.
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