Panel discusses policing, equity

The Difference Makers of Hot Springs hosted a live virtual public discussion between community leaders Tuesday for a “very necessary conversation for every city in America right now” on how to bridge the gap between the community and law enforcement agencies, and promote equity among everyone.

“In the wake of the recent homicide of George Floyd and the widespread protests across this country, I felt the need to make a statement of concern,” the Rev. Willie Wade, Difference Makers founder and president, said.

“We realize that no community is immune to the possibility of violence or deadly confrontation with law enforcement,” Wade said. “Our local elected leaders would like to share their concerns on this very sensitive matter of policing the community.”

He said it’s “so often” communities only hear from officials after a tragic incident has occurred, if

at all.

“We find ourselves being reactive in response; today, our attempt is to be proactive,” Wade said. “We understand that protesting is a form of crying out to an immediate concern, but we also know that if nothing is addressed from a leadership perspective, then very little is ever accomplished.”

Participants included County Judge Darryl Mahoney, City Manager Bill Burrough, Garland County Sheriff Mike McCormick, Hot Springs Police Chief Chris Chapmond, Hot Springs School District Superintendent

Stephanie Nehus, Ouachita Behavioral Health and Wellness CEO Rob Gershon and community advocate Elmer Beard.

Guest moderators were University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Vice Chancellor Brian Gittens and UAMS Senior Diversity Specialist Amber Booth-McCoy.

The first question asked by the moderators was addressed to everyone at the table: How do they see themselves as an ally for underrepresented minorities in the community?

Mahoney said he strives to make sure that everyone has the “same opportunity.”

“And what we’re doing tonight, I think, is the first step,” Mahoney said. “My motto is ‘Educate and communicate,’ because I don’t have all the answers, but I can learn from things like this.”

Burrough said as leaders in the community, they are in a position to “facilitate change,” and that’s done by listening, having these types of meetings and being involved in the community.

“I think we’re in a unique position to be able to facilitate that change and to do that you have to be open and honest, and recognize that not everybody is treated the same,” Burrough said. “There are times that could be race, it could be religion, it could be social path, it could be whatever it may be. … I don’t know if we can ever eradicate it completely, but I think it’s that goal that we always have to be looking at and be open and, as a leader, help facilitate that.”

Chapmond said as a leader, not only in the general community but in the law enforcement community, it’s his responsibility, the sheriff’s responsibility and the leaders of their organizations to ensure they are policing the community in a “fair and equitable way.”

“And that means holding ourselves to the highest standards,” Chapmond said. “That means that we need our officers to be approachable, we need our officers to understand the importance of the training of de-escalation tactics and bias policing, and understand that regardless of who we are, we do have those biases, those implicit biases.”

He said law enforcement agencies need to identify areas where they succeed and celebrate those victories, but they also must admit where mistakes are made and learn from those so they can move forward.

“So it’s important as … an organization that’s charged with the enforcement of our laws to make sure we’re holding ourselves to the very highest standards and listening to those around us,” Chapmond said. “And I think that’s the importance of this tonight, is to have those conversations.”

Booth-McCoy responded that “anytime you throw out the words bias and equity to diversity people, we get real excited.”

McCormick said the first thing he would have to say in response to how he can use his leadership position to be an ally for underrepresented minorities in the community is to be “intolerant to intolerance,” because if that role isn’t taken then things are accepted for the way they are.

“And we are in a time of change, and if you’re not on that bandwagon you’re going to be falling behind,” McCormick said. “It’s also extremely important to pay attention to what you say and how you say it. … I have learned and grown so much within the past year or so, and I think a lot of people are falling into that category too.”

He said it’s also important to “accept correction” and seek out the “marginalized voices.”

“I make mistakes; I try to keep them at a minimum, but I’m a human being and that goes along with the learning,” McCormick said. “Seek out the marginalized voices; so often they are overlooked, and their input is so important to our community to making the right decisions, making everyone equal.”

Following McCormick’s response, Gittens encouraged him to not use terminology such as “intolerance.”

“As Amber was pointing out, when we hear words like ‘equity’ and things that get us excited, I get less excited when I hear words like ‘tolerance,’” Gittens said. “So if we could take this opportunity to maybe change that narrative a little bit, because tolerance seems to indicate that you are enduring something that’s negative, as opposed to embracing something or celebrating something.

“The hope is that we move this conversation where we’re not tolerating people who are different, but we’re actually embracing them and celebrating them as well. But I love the points that you brought up, and certainly appreciate it.”

Booth-McCoy jokingly added, “Well I was going to tell him that it sounds like you all have it all together; we can go.”

“In our community, if we believe that not discussing racism will cause it to go away, we’re making a very serious mistake — it won’t go away,” Beard said. “We should be open and honest with ourselves and try to grow each day. … When we admit that, and make progress from it, we’re making progress for all.”

Nehus said when it comes to educational leaders, it’s their responsibility to host “the conversation” and, especially for youths, to listen to their voice.

“We as adults have to realize the world we grew up in is very different than the world our children grew up in, and we want their world to be different, we want to learn from history and we want to make sure it doesn’t repeat itself, and we want to make sure that everyone feels safe and included in all conversations,” Nehus said.

Gershon said the theory of suppressed conversation on racism not being a solution rings true, and compared it to a similar issue he has experienced in his field of mental health.

“People use to say you shouldn’t talk about suicide because people might be more likely to act upon that,” Gershon said. “When you really talk about people who are suicidal or about suicidal acts, one of the things they talk about is because there’s so much ambivalence about it, if people would just take the time and energy to talk about it and ask how they’re doing, that interest and that level of caring might have made all the difference in the world.

“I think that’s where we are as a society. We need to listen, we need to learn, we need to work together, but we need to make sure that we’re working together to create the kind of society we want for ourselves, our children and our children’s children. It’s going to take a lot of hard work, it’s going to take some time, but events like this open up the door for having these discussions.”

“Anybody can be a leader,” Gershon said. “All it takes to be a leader is to be committed to being involved, to speak up and to basically be involved in one’s dreams, and anyone can lead from any position in life. So this is one of those opportunities where everybody needs to step up and be a leader to deal with this issue that has gone on way, way too long in our society.”

Booth-McCoy concluded the first round of responses by echoing the necessity of the conversation being held.

“I’m very excited about having this conversation, and what you guys are saying; as well as the fact of what Sheriff McCormick said that in the past year, you were saying that you’ve learned so much, and I bet that growth wasn’t always comfortable, but if we can commit to sometimes being uncomfortable, we can get further as a society because we’re going to share the discomfort, instead of that discomfort being placed on vulnerable populations, like it already is,” Booth-McCoy said.

The entire 1-hour and 22-minute conversation can be viewed on the Facebook Page @differencemakersofhotsprings.