Albany State University holds ‘Justice While Black’ town hall meeting

ALBANY — Albany Police Department Capt. Benita Childs told a group of Albany State University students Wednesday that the local police agency is a leader in how community oriented policing should be done.

That, Childs said, is perhaps why there have been no police-citizen confrontations that have dominated the news across the nation during the past few months.

ASU’s criminal justice department and pre-law students held a town hall meeting on campus Wednesday with eight panelists discussing the book: “Justice while Black: Helping African-American families Navigate and Survive the Criminal Justice System.”

The discussion panel consisted of book co-authors Robbin Shipp and Nick Chiles, who were joined by Former Albany Police Department Chief Joseph Lumpkin, who is now chief of the Savannah-Chatham Metro Police Department; Pastor Daniel Simmons, Mount Zion Baptist Church; James Bush, Dougherty County School Board member; Nicole Bailey, Atlanta Area Media specialist; Judge Willie Lockette, Chief Superior Court Judge for Dougherty County; and Childs.

According to a promo for the book, “the precarious safety of black males has received renewed interest in the past year because of the deaths of teenagers Trayvon Martin and Jordan Davis, the fact is that this group has always been under threat from the armed guardians of the white social order. Black males and the police force have been at odds since the nation’s founding, when wealthy planters hired slave patrols to keep the white community safe from dangerous escaped slaves.

“The tactics have been modernized, but the impact is still devastating — we are witnessing an epic criminalization of the African-American community at levels never before seen since the end of slavery.”

Capt. Childs, who has been with the APD for 23 years, said there is a reason that the incidents seen in other states have not occurred in Albany.

“Albany, Ga., is a leader in how community-oriented policing should be done,” she said. “But we still need better communication between the community and the police department. That’s why we have to have this dialog.”

Lockette, who had a meeting with Simmons and some youth earlier this week to discuss the topic, talked about how young blacks should survive an encounter with police officers.

“We came up with a list of four Do’s and four Don’ts,” Lockette said. Things not to do include don’t react, don’t reach, don’t run and don’t resist. Running is a major no-no, Lockett said.

Lockette’s list of things to do:

“Do respect the police even if you think they are wrong; do use restraint; do record everything. You have a cell phone, use it; and do report any problems you might have.

“And always remember, you could be right, but you could also be dead right.”

Simmons said, “There is a problem with justice when it comes to people of color. You should be trained in how to deal with the police. Because right now it’s an attitude issue with law enforcement.”

Lumpkin, who has more than four decades in law enforcement, including spending four years as chief of the APD, acknowledged there is a perception problem between law enforcement and the black community.

“In my 45 years in law enforcement we’ve seen a lot of change,” Lumpkin said. “I realize that you students think we are awful, but we’re a lot better off than we were when I started in 1970. It’s important that you realize we deal with people when they are at their very worst. Regardless of whether or not you like it, the police are just a microcosm of the community.

“The challenge is not just with the police departments, it is also a societal challenge.”