Commission discusses race relations, policing

Jul. 4--Members of a commission dedicated to human relations in Jacksonville discussed racial profiling in policing and other racial issues on Thursday.

Jacksonville Police Chief Adam Mefford was supposed to give a presentation to the city's Commission on Disabilities and Human Relations, but commission chair Alan Bradish said a last-minute conflict kept Mefford away from the meeting.

Bradish instead read from a statement from Mefford in which the chief addressed the work his department has done to improve its relationship with the community, concerns about racial discrimination in policing in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in police custody, and the ensuing protests against police brutality.

"I, like the rest of the country, was horrified and disgusted with the events surrounding the death of George Floyd," Mefford's statement read. "This was unacceptable and we need to assure the public that we are doing everything we can to prevent senseless behavior like this from happening not only locally, but as a nation."

Mefford's statement noted that Jacksonville Police Department several years ago banned the use of chokeholds and similar techniques that restricts one's airway unless in deadly force scenarios. Mefford said the police department and Mayor Andy Ezard were happy to work with the organizers of a Black Lives Matter protest in June to ensure the attendees could exercise their right to protest and to continue a conversation with residents about racial justice and police reforms.

The Jacksonville police outsourced their policy manual to an independent firm that makes recommendations for local departments to assure guidelines are within the boundaries of state law and best practice, Mefford said in his statement. The firm continues to monitor the department's policy and officers must review and sign off on all policy. Officers also must complete 40 hours of critical incident training to emphasize de-escalation.

Mefford said he signed off on the 10 Shared Principles agreement designed to build trust between law enforcement and communities of color in April 2019. The principles are an agreement between the state's NAACP and Illinois Association of Chiefsof Police that includes rejecting all forms of discrimination, endorsing the values of community policing and supporting diversity in police departments.

Through police procedure and training, Mefford said Jacksonville police already had adopted the policies championed by the 8 Can't Wait campaign, a campaign founded after Floyd's death calling for the adoption of eight police reforms that advocates believe would drastically reduce police killings. The reforms include a ban on chokeholds and strangleholds, and require de-escalation, a mandated warning before shooting, exhausting all alternatives before shooting, a mandate for officers to intervene if others officers are using excessive force, a ban on shooting at moving vehicles, restrictions on the use of force and comprehensive reporting.

Bradish added that Mefford disbanded the city's street crime task force, a unit Bradish said was a major police presence on the city's streets.

Commission members Ruth Linear and Jaime Filio-Cruz both recounted moments when they or members of their family experienced what they felt was racial profiling from police officers. Linear said her son recorded several times when officers accosted him. Filio-Cruz said there were times when his husband had been pulled over by police when it seemed like he was being profiled and he wanted to check with the city's Latino community about profiling.

Linear also recalled a 1991 incident in which two Black men were harmed by officers after they were stopped and two months of meeting between the Jacksonville branch of the NAACP and city officials that followed. She said police behavior towards Black residents has calmed down in recent years , following the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri.

"I think they cooled down some since Ferguson," Linear said. "Lately things have cooled down with police stopping you because of this Black Lives Matter."

Linear also brought up concerns about diversity in the police department, other city departments and in the Jacksonville school district.

Bradish said Mefford now is scheduled to address the commission at its September meeting.

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