I live in a small city that, once upon a time, had a crime rate, especially homicides, that was comparable to cities twice its size. It ia a majority minority city--mostly Black and Latino; Whites are in the minority here. Gangs seemed to have a stronghold on much of the city, and gang violence was quite prevalent. Richmond police officers oftentimes found themselves firing upon suspects in defense of their own lives. Over the past couple of years, the Mayor Gayle McLaughlin and Police Chief McManus have worked diligently to reform the police department to make it community friendly. McManus, who came to Richmond from Fargo, North Dakota, moved into the city because he wanted to be close to his job--hed ride his bike to work. Working with the city council and the community, he put together a police force that reflects the diversity of the community. The officers seem to know the communities that they patrol and actively work with those communities to keep crime down. Because of the cooperation between the police and the community, police involved shootings are at an all time low in the city. That is commendable and is the sort of solution other cities should be considering as they deal with the distrust held by their minority populations towardthe police.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 16:25:05 +0000
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