ANOTHER VIEWPOINT: Police could build trust by simply listening

<p>Kokomo Police Chief Doug Stout remembers a meeting in October 2019 with the Kokomo TenPoint Coalition, a group working to reduce youth gun violence in the city.</p><p>A young Black woman was sharing with the those in attendance her past encounters with law enforcement and apprehension of being pulled over by a police officer.</p><p>“What I heard is flat out, ‘I’m scared. I don’t know if I’m going to get shot,’” Stout said.</p><p>Helping the public overcome that fear of law enforcement is what Stout said is one of the department’s biggest concerns. He and other like-minded leaders in law enforcement know the key to building trust in police departments is outreach and communication with the community, particularly neighborhoods that have a high percentage of minorities.</p><p>Departments also must develop strong, detailed social media policies – and enforce them – so that rogue officers don’t reinforce negative stereotypes about police, impeding the process.</p><p>One way to build trust and bridge that disconnect between police officer and city resident is through simply listening to what is said.</p><p>Since Minneapolis resident George Floyd’s death in the custody of police officers May 25, protesters have made their voices heard in the nation’s largest cities and smallest towns. A poll released Monday by the University of Maryland School of Public Policy suggests a plurality of America is on the side of the protesters.</p><p>Almost 90% of respondents supported mandatory body cameras. Eighty-one percent favored a national registry of police misconduct. Fifty-five percent backed a ban on chokeholds. Like an over-the-counter decongestant, however, these proposals address the symptoms of police brutality and not their cause: a lack of trust of police officers.</p><p>“There’s a percentage of every single city somewhere in this world or in the United States that don’t trust their policemen. Why? We need that communication to go back and forth as to why,” Kokomo’s Chief Stout said. “Until then, we’re not going to know how to correct it.”</p>