More needs to be done between police and the communities they serve

Recent incidents have shown us that there is a dire need to have community re-engagement between local citizens and officials; not just in Baltimore, Ferguson and Charleston, but nationwide.

Racism, astounding rates of intergenerational poverty, a lack of economic opportunity and a long history of incidents (oftentimes unwarranted) between low-income communities and law enforcement officials are problems all cities continue to face; the recent examples in 2015 have shed a spotlight on this oftentimes forgotten reality. 

{mosads}Massive income inequality, separate and unequal schools, abandoned neighborhoods and political dysfunction will not be fixed overnight. Instead communities and its citizens need to work together and not against one another.

Rioting and looting are not the answer. These images, flashing before the nation’s eyes, are a mere distraction and draw attention away from the matter that needs to be addressed: police brutality.

There is massive distrust between the police and the African-American community, related to race or class or both factors. Incidents in Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore and the senseless slayings in Charleston, S.C., have now provided an opportunity for civic and community leaders to address and improve police-community relations, once and for all.

The days of racial profiling need to be put behind us. The use of force should be a last resort and not a first response. The only way to civil discourse and better working relationships between law enforcement and the African-American community is to have consistent dialogue and an understanding that practices and changes are being made that will be better for everyone within the community. The time for this open dialogue has come.

Police work in the 21st century is more complicated than it was years ago. Sending officers into the field without proper vetting and up-to-date training, and without governments working to communicate with and economically empower their communities, is as irresponsible as sending troops into the battlefield unarmed. Better arrest protocols and policies will not, by themselves, constitute justice. But they are an essential component of it.

Change cannot happen until civic communities get beyond their division and defensiveness, until all of America recognizes its deficiencies and commits to a process that elevates the civil rights and economic opportunity of a class of American citizens that for too long has been left with little hope for a better future.

Only by working together and addressing these problems will real and meaningful change be finally be made in many of our country’s communities where these issues and concerns need to be addressed.

Parks is CEO of Metropolitan Protective Services Inc.