Alsobrooks, Mathis, Hawkins, Hoyer, Braveboy Lead ‘Superbad’ Panel Addressing Police Violence in 2020. Here are 8 Things That Came Out Of The Discussion.

Video Of Session Below

By Raoul Dennis

Comic Joe Clair hosted the policing 2020 panel in his customary flair: wit, attitude and style. Joe Clair is just like that. He can crack you up with a look or a twist of a phrase.

But even Clair dialed it down for this one.

The June 4 ZOOM-based panel included headliners County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Judge Greg Mathis. They were joined by At-Large County Council Member Calvin Hawkins, Congressman Steny Hoyer, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy, Dr. Billina R. Shaw, Nicole Jackson, Mi’Jan Credle, Pastor Tony Lee, Angie Ange, A. Scott Bolden, Esq., Nala Washington, Mirissa Michel and more.

Here are 8 things you should know:

1. Accountability

Without accountability, there’s no change in the pattern of police violence against citizens. There is the resounding refrain that if there are no consequences for rogue cops, there will be no reduction in the loss of black lives. “I just got off the phone with Speaker Pelosi,” Hoyer said. “I’m going to bring a bill to the floor next week and I expect to have hearings shortly thereafter.” The congressman actually announced three pieces of legislation around the issue that he will bring forward to hold officers accountable and punishable through federal legislation. “That’s the only way it will stop.”

2. Internal Culture Change: Address The ‘Blue Line’

“If you tolerate bad policing, racial profiling, I don’t care if you’re a good police officer, you are part of the problem. You need to go,” said A. Scott Bolden, Esq. The ‘close ranks’ culture of the law enforcement community is viewed as part of the problem. “They hold each other accountable,” Judge Greg Mathis said of the mindset of athletes on a team. “In the locker room—that’s where it goes down,” he says the attitude and tone of the team gets dealt with in that environment. “Why can’t the police do that before they go out,” he said denoting that peer pressure and the culture of the blue code is likely stronger than any sensitivity training class ever could be.

3. Residents/Citizens: Find Your Voice, Get Engaged

Reverend Tony Lee pushed for residents to be active citizens. “We need you to find your voice and then we need you to find your place because we all have a role to play in this,” he said. “It’s not just talking about what the issues are; it’s about getting engaged in the political process. Do something when folks in power are not doing what they are supposed to be doing.”

4. The Mental Wellness And Racial Attitude Of Police Officers

There is a call for better monitoring of the psychological and other dispositions of officers hired. “We have to do a better job of screening the people we accept into police academies,” Alsobrooks said. “Mental health is a very big issue. We need to determine whether or not our officers are fit to serve us. If you have the right to take my liberty and take my life, I need to know whether you are mentally fit to do the job and I think that’s fair not only to the citizens but to the officers, too.”

5. Youth Must Be At The Center Of The Process

Nicole Jackson-Young of the office of Community Relations pushed listeners to understand the need to build a platform for young residents to prepare them for the leadership mantle. “We have to provide that civic engagement for our young people,” Jackson-Young says. “They need to have it now so they know it exists and [how to use it]. We have to make sure that as we talk about solutions we include the future in those solutions.”

6. Transparency Is A Must

In order to build trust between law enforcement and communities, there has to be a greater level of transparency, according to Aisha Braveboy. She says there are often complaints against an arresting officer that may show a bad pattern. But without access to the officer’s background, her office is hamstrung. “Because we don’t have that level of transparency, inherent in that is a level of distrust. We need to look at that – especially when we have allegations of misconduct in the record.”

7. Be Proactive: Audit The Poor Conduct of Bad Cops

It was Angie Ange who pushed for better tracking of the actions of police officers with a long record of complaints against them. “One of the things that bugs me about the [Floyd case] is when I see how many years these officers had at this police department,” she said. “I see how many issues and complaints they had against them [and they are still servicing the community]. I wonder if there is a way to audit this,” she said in a call to be more proactive about the issue.

8. Deal with Profiling and Systemic Racism

“Economics may separate us, but race is the tie that binds us,” said Bolden. He explained that his income bracket doesn’t shield him from the challenges of racism. For him, being pulled over in a routine traffic stop is just as potentially frightening as it is for any other black man. Any change in police violence has to address raw, systemic racism.

The panel discussion was a social justice family reunion for many of the first class speakers.

“Judge Mathis came here several years ago. We hosted the brotherhood summit together five years ago for 13-18 year old boys,” Alsobrooks said at the start of the session.

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“We have had unrest every day I can remember,” she said. “I don’t remember a time when there has ever been any rest for black people in this country and that’s the truth of the matter. I have been in this country for nearly 50 years and that ‘unrest’ [they are talking about across the nation] is a part of our everyday lives.”

With her remarks setting the tone, the County Executive recognized the county’s own struggles with past cases wherein race seemed to be a factor in altercations and cases with the police.

“I can say the name of Terrence Johnson, I can remember Prince Jones… all you have to do is mention the names and the pain comes back as if it were yesterday,” she said.

She says that the advent of cell phone cameras have made the routine pain that African Americans feel a newly opened book for the world to see.

“Prince George’s County is not what it’s going to be, but it’s not what it used to be either,” Alsobrooks says.

Poet Shemar Cooke co-signed on that in the powerful piece he closed with.

“If Rome wasn’t built in a day, peace won’t happen in a week.”