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The relationship between people of color and the police is strained in many communities across the US. Are you afraid to call the police? Do the police in your area handle Native American cases with care and cultural sensitivity? Join our conversation about the current relationship between the police and Native people in your community. Would you like to see an improved relationship between the police and the Native American in your city, town or village?
Guests:
Eileen Luna-Firebaugh (Choctaw and Cherokee ) – associate professor of American Indian Studies at the University of Arizona
LeMoine LaPointe (Sicangu Lakota) – coordinator for the Indigenizing Crisis Intervention Teams in Indian Country initiative
Ed Reina (Akimel O’odham) – retired police chief
Break Music: Horseback Riding Song (song) The Tewa Indian Women’s Choir (artist) Fun and Social Songs from San Juan Pueblo (album)
No. I am not comfortable calling the cops. Many of the officers that are allowed to be officers lack the training and the ability to acknowledge how systemic biases lead to racial profiling and escalate already tense situations, often with deadly results. When it comes to people of color, it’s shoot first and then do what it is necessary to justify it, which they do by taking to the media and attacking the character of the person killed to paint a picture of a criminal undeserving of due process and life. The company line is “The officer feared for his life”. Isn’t it funny that they are put in life and death situations all the time, yet when it’s people of color the fear leads to deadly force by officers fearing cellphones and toy guns. When it’s people of color, petty crimes, mental illness and even hypothetical crimes warrant deadly force. Yet, non-POC can point weapons at the police and commit mass shootings while being given the opportunity to face a court of law. Here in Lawton, a young woman, Christina Tahhahwah, diagnosed with bi-polar was arrested instead of taken to the hospital as the family requested when they called for help during on of her episodes. She was jailed, handcuffed to her cell door and found unresponsive, cause of death is yet unknown and they never contacted the family. They found out that she was in the hospital from a family friend working at the hospital, 12 hours after her collapse. Melissa Goodblanket has been fighting for justice in the shooting death of her son, Mah-Ha-Vist Goodblanket, by police in Clinton, OK. A year before her son’s death, another native man, Benjamin Whiteshield, was shot and killed by Clinton Police. South Dakota is another place where Natives are dealing with preemptive criminalization, harassment and police brutality. These are just a few of the reasons that I do not trust the police.
Community and Police need each other to keep the community safe. How do you regain a trust that is lost? It’s a long road. Communities need to teach officers about their culture, history and the trauma that many face each day. Officers must listen if they want to build rapport and gain the community’s trust. Communities need to host open conversations where all points of view are listened to, without speeches and insults, where police and community can learn together and build new relationships to create innovative ways to respond to age old injuries and difficulties. Officers need to participate in conversations about shared values, in community ceremonial functions that honor the entire community and it’s culture and traditions. We all need to be that role model. We can all bring out the positive core that is inside of each person by using our words in a powerful way. We can all support officers who take on the burdens of being the community guardian who assists the weak and protects the vulnerable. We can all insist on a community standard of respect and caring for each member of the community, no matter what their professional or other status. Regaining trust is a long road, but it’s worth traveling.