Chaplain says public should keep an ‘open mind’
Hot Springs Police Department Chaplain Bryan Smith, who provides officers with spiritual advice and guidance, recently spoke with The Sentinel-Record about police brutality and how the department is rebuilding its relationship with parts of the community that have lost trust in it.
“Everybody is aware that (police brutality) happens, but overall I’ve found that 99% of your men and women in law enforcement are good,” Smith said. “It’s just that small percentage, maybe that they don’t adhere to the rules, and then it makes all of them look bad.”
He said he does not think that the 1% of “bad” officers should reflect on an entire force.
“I agree in some sense that if you’ve got 10 cops and one of them is bad, if the one or two actually see something that’s going on and for whatever reason don’t report it, I think they’re part of the problem, too, because shouldn’t you be held accountable for the things you see if you’re in the line or the profession of protecting people?” Smith said.
As for HSPD, Smith said although he does not know every police officer personally, out of the ones he does they are “great” people.
“Now, I’m not telling you that there’s not that bad apple of the bunch here; I just don’t know of them,” Smith added.
As far as how police officers treat minority populations, Smith said the 1% of “bad” officers view them differently, but as for the 99% of “good” officers they don’t hold any racial prejudice because “if they did there would be less than 99% good.”
Smith noted that although it happens predominantly to minorities, police brutality is an issue for all races.
So when police brutality is defined as using excessive force,
it begs the question: Is there ever a time when excessive force or killing a civilian is justified?
“Excessive force would be (justified) in the heat of battle, and I don’t know if you would call it excessive then if they’re trying to protect themselves,” Smith said. “And the only way where I would see a killing is justified is if the officer truly felt like their lives are in danger, and they were trying to protect themselves.”
In an instance when excessive force isn’t justified and police brutality occurs, he offered a solution of holding the 1% of “bad” officers accountable with the law.
“There’s no justification for beating someone or kicking someone when they’re in handcuffs,” Smith said. “Regardless of what they did before they were handcuffed, once you have them in handcuffs there’s no justification for excessive force. So not until that 1% or not until that bad apple realizes that they’re going to be held accountable like you and I would for doing something like that, not until those laws change where they’re held accountable will this change. I don’t care how much we march, I don’t care how much we protest; not until the laws are changed and holding them accountable will something like this change.”
As for rebuilding trust with parts of the community who have lost trust with the department, he said the HSPD has to get out in the community and be genuine because without trust there is nothing.
“If they just get out in the community, show people that they’re real, reinforce to the community that ‘Hey, all of us are not bad,’ I think that they can regain the trust of the community,” Smith said. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but it can be done, it’s just going to take a little work.”
When it comes to how civilians treat and view police officers, he said he would hope civilians would have an “open mind.”
“If you’re in a car with people who rob a bank, and even if you’re not doing anything you’re assumed to be guilty, also,” Smith said. “So right now, when people see policemen coming down the street, regardless of what he or she has done, they’re being associated with that one bad apple in the bunch.
“And I would hope that we would get past that and try not to lump all law enforcement officers in the same boat because that’s not the right thing to do. We truly, especially here in Hot Springs, we have some great men and women at our Hot Spring Police Department, and I would just hope that we wouldn’t put them all in the same boat because I don’t think that’s fair.”
Smith added that he thinks HSPD is doing a “great job” in handling the Black Lives Matter movement.
“If you’ve noticed, during the protest our men and women have been there on the scene,” he said. “I think just the other day when they had a march in the rally, our men and women participated in it. And that kind of goes back to what can they do to regain the trust of our citizens? It’s doing things like that; by being involved with positive rallies and things like that.
“(Officers) still have to keep the peace. They still have to do their jobs, but being involved in community events like that, I think that’s great. Then again, I can’t state enough how important it is to have a police force in your town or in your city, and our men and women here are doing a great job.”