Sonya Massey’s killing demands better policing, not less police

Trust continues to spiral downward between some of America’s most vulnerable communities — the ones most in need of good police protection — and the officers serving them.

Last month in Springfield, Ill., Sonya Massey called 911 to get help. Instead, she was shot to death in her kitchen by a responding deputy. These sorts of shootings often result in riots at worst or sharp upticks in mistrust or dislike of police, at best.

But we cannot and must not let tragic outlier events determine our community’s relationship with the police force tasked with keeping us safe.

Bad cops must be corrected. But good cops should be supported, not punished or held in contempt along with the rest.

That’s why Woodson Center Voices of Black Mothers United is partnering with organized community-police events around the country for this year’s National Night Out. We already know that building high-trust relationships between community members and the local police force helps keep everyone safer. More trust means less fear, less anger, less misunderstanding — and less violence.

We know how to begin fixing the problem of police and community violence. It’s just up to us to do it, together.

With greater trust, there can be greater openness. We can hold bad officers accountable. We can hold criminals accountable, as well. We can foster a healthy and emotional balance in ourselves and in the officers who are making life-and-death decisions on a daily basis. We can learn to rely on each other without fear or hostility.

After all, the police officers in our communities need our help to do their jobs as they have been sworn to protect and serve.  However, we need them to feel safe within our communities, and from that shared need arises mutual responsibility and respect.

We owe each other integrity, respect and honesty. We are responsible for each other and for the communities within which we live. Our police officers owe us rigorous vetting processes, stringent accountability practices and transparent and effective police work. 

The Illinois deputy charged with shooting Sonya Massey had a track record of problematic behavior. Why wasn’t he flagged as a risk to the police force?

We owe our officers, in turn, as much respect and trust as we are requesting in our communities. They may face incredibly hard situations on any given day and witness the worst of humanity. Police departments have to make sure they have access to adequate mental health support so they can continue to do their jobs well.  We as the community must hold them accountable to do so, but cutting communications will do just the opposite.  

Riots and hostility, even if we’re legitimately upset about police abuses, don’t serve our safety, or solve the problem of community violence. They generate more fear, more misgivings — and worse policing.

When police respond to a call, people are generally already frightened, angry or stricken with grief. When you’ve recently suffered at the hands of a violent criminal, or have felt your life was threatened, it’s difficult to see who’s a friend or ally in the heat of the moment. But we have to choose trust before it can become our working reality. We have to choose to see each other as people, neighbors and collaborators in peace.

The reality we choose, together, is eventually the reality we build. That’s as true for a community rife with anger, hostility, mistrust and violence as it is for communities full of harmony, trust, accountability and justice.

It’s time to build a better world. It’s time to choose each other, to choose peace. It’s time to build relationships between community members and law enforcement that bear the heavy weight of real trust, even in the hardest moments.

Sylvia Bennett-Stone is the national director of Voices of Black Mothers United, a project of the Woodson Center.