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Baton Rouge Community Convening – July 17th, 2016: Police Brutality in Baton Rouge’s African-American Community

Convening Report Summary

July 22, 2016

“This moment calls for unity, for listening, and for empathy as we seek to understand what communities of color are facing and the assumptions that the broader society is working from. Our ability to rise up and address embedded and complex issues in today’s society requires us to initiate and continue an open and progressive conversation. We must listen to understand other perspectives and test our own mental maps rather than to reinforce our own beliefs.” - Bernard J. Tyson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente

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Special thanks to Cleve Dunn, Jr., Eugene Collins, Michael A.V. Mitchell, & Daniel Banguel - doing their part to empower people, community, and make Baton Rouge better for all its citizen.

Empowering People to Improve Lives and Create Healthier Communities.”

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Preface This report is a summary of the convening that took place July 16th, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The catalyst and actions that led to the convening were the shooting of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge police officers and the resulting community engagement, mobilization efforts led by Cleve Dunn, Jr., Eugene Collins, Michael A.V. Mitchell, and Daniel Bangel. The two and a half hour convening was attended by black and white community members from Baton Rouge. The convening resulted in in-depth discussions and sharing of factors thought to be affecting police brutality in Baton Rouge. The convening participants shaped and developed recommendations for dealing with police brutality in Baton Rouge.

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4 Convening Report Summary Human Rights Watch articulates (n.d.), in its report - Shielded from Justice: Police Brutality and Accountability in the United States, “[p]olice brutality is one of the most serious, enduring, and divisive human rights violations in the United States … [ - the] problem is nationwide, and its nature is institutionalized”. Historical and recent events in Baton Rouge serve as reminders of the existence, effects, and the institutionalized nature of police brutality in Baton Rouge. Thus, on Saturday, July 16th, Baton Rouge community members and leaders convened to participate in a meeting to discuss police brutality in Baton Rouge’s African-American community and assess the need for a community-wide self-care intervention to help citizens, particularly African-American youth and young adults, deal with the trauma of police brutality. However, due to time limitation and the richness of the first part of the discussion, the convening focused mostly on police brutality in Baton Rouge’s African-American community. Demographics of the convening participants are the following: •

63 percent African American

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38 percent White

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25 percent Female

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75 percent Male

To put these demographics into perspective, of the 225, 590 people living in Baton Rouge, 54.5 percent are African American, 39.4 percent are white, 51.9 percent are female, and 47.1 percent are male (United State Census Bureau, 2015). Further, participants in the convening came from

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5 varied professions and backgrounds. Participants were lay persons, business owners, community organizers, pastors, a public health program director, a case manager, a musician, mental health practitioners, a CFO, and an FQHC executive director. Each participant brought in-depth insight and perspective to the discussion. The convening was facilitated by The BACH Group. BACH Principals led participants in a social cubism activity. Social cubism is a conflict resolution strategy that aims to find solutions to a conflict/problem by looking at the various elements of a problem’s root cause (Byrne and Carter, 2000). BACH Principals asked questions and facilitated discussions that empowered participants to explore various perspectives of the problem – police brutality in Baton Rouge’s African American community. The participants discoursed, examined, and assessed social factors and systemic (e.g. macro) issues – demographics, balance of power, history, psycho-cultural, politics, and economics (see Table 1).

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6 Table 1 Factors Demographics Balance of Power Historical Psycho-cultural

Political Economic

Factor Significance/Meaning Diversity of a community; race, class, etc. How power is perceived, utilized; exploitation of low power groups Look to past to understand present framework for community’s culture Factors that influence perceptions and behaviors e.g. gender, age, race, ethnicity; societal experiences and expectations Stakeholders’ agendas Distribution of resources in the community

Note. “Adapted from Applying Conflict Analysis And Resolution Strategies To Assess Organizational Safety Culture In Accident Investigations” by Shufutinsky, A., Shanahan, P., Schaal, N., Madad, S., Johnson, D., 2015, International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies, 2, page 75.

Focusing on the identified problem, the group was allotted time to provide responses to each factor. After the responses of all factors were compiled, questions were asked of the participants. BACH Principals asked: what patterns do you see, what are your responses telling you (us), what theme and/or ideas are bubbling up? Many participants immediately acknowledged they, because of the activity, had a more comprehensive understanding of police brutality in Baton Rouge’s African American community. This increased understanding and continued discussion resulted in the development of policy recommendations – page 10.

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7 The Six Factors: Social Cubism - Police Brutality in Baton Rouge’s African American Community This section details group members’ responses for each factor (** indicates a reoccurring response): 1. Demographics (Diversity of community, race, class, etc.) – o Teens o South Baton Rouge o Zip codes 70807, 70802 o Women o White Residents o Blacks

o o o o o o

Low SES Black Folks North Baton Rouge White Police Force Religious groups White Men Black Males (14to 40)

2. Balance of Power (How power is perceived, utilized, exploited (as it relates to minorities) – o White people have o Black Elected not having power o Police OfficialsProfiling/illegal search o Pastors/arrogance/ power o Government o Laws that govern us

o Lobbyist o Abuse of Power (police) o Media-control narrative - bias o Reform-lack of police reform o Police Force

3. Historical (Look to past to understand present, framework for community’s culture.) – o Slavery/Slave o T.J. Jemison started bus boycott o Unjust legal system o Red lining o Crabs in a bucket mentality o Just pray about it o Historical trauma o Segregation o Exxon Mobile o Understanding Corporation cultural difference** o Racism** o Happens all the time police brutality

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8 o Never got equal pay o Address issues instead of saying, it no longer exists o Mental control over AA o Racial Profiling**

o Police above the law o Present laws under the spirit of Jim Crow o AA males are a sexual predator o Pretest/text stop

4. Psycho-Cultural (Factors that influence perceptions and behaviors e.g. gender, age, race, ethnicity; societal experience and expectations.) – o Whites are better than blacks o Sexism o Blacks are aggressive and criminals o Youth vs Baby Boomers o Influential Parents o SES o White Supremacy** o Hollywood sets standards o Homophobia

o Current political landscape – many black powerless o Educational empowerment lacking o Media-negative perceptions of blacks o Blacks living in white communities – I got mine, you get yours o Perception of a lack of quality education at HBCUs o Anger/Betrayal o White people are fearful of blacks

5. Political (People/Stakeholders’ Agendas) – o Southern White Cons. o Reagan Dems. o Increase voting among people of color o I have mine, now you get yours o Reform Blue lives matter Bill o Filibuster Bad Bills o Promotion Agenda o Big business is controlling

o o o o o o o

politics in local and notional Kip Holden-funding distribution, not equal Evangelicals Residency Requirements NRA Selfish Gain Scratching someone’s back Lazy Politicians

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9 o Blacks are not engaged in politics

o Lack of Knowledge

6. Economic (Distribution of resources) – o Resources greater in S. Baton Rouge vs. N. Baton Rouge o Tax Breaks focus of certain people o S. Baton Rouge more tax base than N. Baton Rouge o Unequal Pay o Proximity to Resources o Political Contributions o Community Wealth o Reluctant to Collaborate /Provide Resources o The business of church hasn’t dev. Jobs

o Lack of job dev. o Great # hospitals in S. BR than N.BR o Profit Charter schools with no community over site. (not about helping children) o Low percent of home ownership in N. Baton Rouge. o Low percent of business ownership o No Black based economy /Black owned Business

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10 Recommendations As the participants were discussing and processing their responses to the factors, one member articulated the need for a systematic and community-policing approach. The group rallied behind this approach as a theme and thus shaped, developed four recommendations: 1. Establish residency requirements for persons wanting to be law enforcement officers in Baton Rouge ➢ Participants expressed “officers from the city/community are likely to be more familiar with cultural nuance” – more likely to focus on deescalating situations 2. Develop a comprehensive job training and placement program for formerly incarcerated persons ➢ Participants felt many formerly incarcerated persons need comprehensive assistance to find and keep jobs ➢ Remove the box legislation was a recent success 3. Establish a Civilian Review Board that examines and supports the handling of police misconduct ➢ The Body Camera Committee already exist 4. Develop a Community-Based Trauma Team ➢ This team would be dispensed when needed, to deal with trauma relating to violent crimes and/or police brutality The participants believe these four community-policing engrossed recommendations will greatly benefit both the overall community and Baton Rouge law enforcement organizations. The United States Department of Justice writes (2003), in Principles of Good Policing: Avoiding Violence Between Police and Citizens, “…current research shows that [community policing] results in improved safety for both residents and police, neighborhood revitalization, positive neighborhood and police morale and confidence, heightened confidence in government institutions, including police, and improved race relations” (United States Department of Justice, 2003, section: Procedures for Effective Policing, para. 4). Convening participants had expressed there is no authentic relationship nor partnership between Baton Rouge’s African American community and

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11 Baton Rouge law enforcement organizations. Hence, their recommendations support the creation of opportunities for authentic relationships and partnerships between Baton Rouge’s African American community and Baton Rouge law enforcement organizations. As “…community policing … emphasizes changing the role of law enforcement from a static, reactive, incidentdriven bureaucracy to a more dynamic, open, quality-oriented partnership with the community” (Brown & Wycoff, 1987), the implementation of these recommendations would also be a step in the right direction – ensuring all citizen of and communities in Baton Rouge are protected and served.

Lastly, the following next-steps were outlined with members of the convening who are already working together (and also made the July 16th convening possible): 1. 2. 3. 4.

Release convening report summary of July 16th convening – policy recommendations Develop a community-wide communication plan/strategy Develop a register people to vote campaign (statewide and local) and educate voters on how to hold elected leaders accountable Develop youth/community summits that focus on the following: • Trauma & Self-care • Community Mobilization • Know your rights/ How to interact with law enforcement

The BACH Group Recommendation: Given the acuteness of police brutality in Baton Rouge (and nationwide), and thus the communitywide trauma experienced as a result of this brutality, BACH principals recommend, at the community-level, community leaders and partners (a.) develop a comprehensive strategy to deal with police brutality trauma and (b.) ensure the strategy has action-steps focusing on building community leaders and partners’ capacity and/or reach to execute trauma related psycho-social,

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12 counseling, and educational interventions inside Baton Rouge. The BACH Group is willing to work with community leaders and partners to execute this recommendation.

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13 References Brown, L. & Wycoff, M.D. (1987). Policing Houston: reducing fear and improving services. Crime and Delinquency, pp. 71-89 Byrne, S. & Carter, N. (2000). Social cubism: Six social forces of ethnoterritorial politics in northern ireland and québec. Retrieved from http://www.gmu.edu/programs/icar/pcs/bryce.htm Human Rights Watch (n.d.). Shielded from justice: police brutality and accountability in the united states. Retrieved from https://www.hrw.org/legacy/reports98/police/uspo06.htm Shufutinsky, A., Shanahan, P., Schaal, N., Madad, S., Johnson, D. (2015). Applying conflict analysis and resolution strategies to assess organizational safety culture in accident investigations. International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Studies , 2(3), pp. 71- 90 Retrieved from http://www.ijims.com/uploads/517319ae2c6fbfd1cd36AntonApplicationofSocialCubismforSafetyCultureAsmnt_SubmissionDraft_25JAN.compresse d.pdf United States Census Bureau. (2015). Quick facts: Baton rouge. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/PST045215/2205000#headnote-js-a United States Department of Justice. (2003). Principles of good policing: Avoiding violence between police and citizens. section: Procedures for Effective Policing, para 4. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/archive/crs/pubs/principlesofgoodpolicingfinal092003.htm#91

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14 This report was written by The BACH Group Co-founders & Principals, Earl Nupsius Benjamin & Michael Louis Robinson. Email: [email protected] Numbers: 504-722-4099 & 601-720-1064 Website: www.thebachgroup.org

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