Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME 18 No. 909
i
See Section C
COPS
In 1997, Richmond
County began hiring
an additional 74
officers with cash
- from Clinton’s
community-oriented
policing initiative
known as COPS. But
despite the federal
handout, Augusta
can still boast a
police force that is
largely mistrusted,
lacks professional
accreditation, and is
in the midst of a
public relations
| free fall.
INSIDE
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mNational/International .................. 2A
MLocal/Regional News ............ceeeener. BA
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| WBOSIDORE i i hasssisemssosinsmssessrinss O
mEditorial/Opinion ..................... BA-9A
| RANAOE by oiiomasivsonsoesions BOSIIA
L DRI L 5 wivimmaibsinkissnesiineces 3B =3B
~ MClassifieds/Employment .......... 68-7 B
~ WARTbeat/TV 1i5ting5.......... Section C
Worki: ANC takes control in S. Africa elections Page2\
Business: Minority contractors told to shamen up Page 64
+ Sening Men&}gl\ug!m, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Afeu
Confederate battle flag on
law manual raises hackles
By Jim Davenport
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
COLUMBIA, S.C.
Photographs on new legislative manuals
delivered tolawmakers dashed hopes that
the Confederate banner wouldn’t divide
the General Assembly this year.
Black lawmakers were surprised Tues
day to find that the manual, filled with
information about the state, government,
lawmakers and courts was sandwiched
between pictures of the Senate and House
chambers, where the United States flag is
flanked by the South Carolina and Confed
erate battle flags. .
Using pictures that included the Confed
erate flag brought protests Tuesday from
black lawmakers in the final days of an
already tense legislative session filled with
disputes about video gambling, funding for
education and tax cuts.
It was the first time the flag _ one of the
most divisive symbols in the state _ had
come up in this session.
“I don’t intend as a legislator to send it
out to my constituents. It's like in your
face. I think it's being vicious and disre
spectful,” said Rep. Leon Howard, D-Co
lumbia, who wants the book reprinted _
without the flag.
Rep. Joe Neal, a Hopkins Democrat and
chairmen of the House Legislative Black
Caucus, said the General Assembly needs
to be more sensitive to “political hot pota
toes” and avoid them.
JUNE 10 - 16, 1999
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IN THE TURPIN HILL area ot Augusta, some residents feel
the sting of police harassment. Especially black male
motorists. Richard Dykes Jr. (L) and nephew Carlton Christie
Jr. have grown skeptical of the police. Photoby Timothy Cox
By Timothy Cox i
AUGUSTA "FOCUS' Staff Writer
' AUGUSTA
‘Carlton Christie, 29, has the
look. He’s young, black, and drives
a sporty car with shiny wheels.
His look has attracted the atten
tion of local police who have
stopped him twice, for no appar
ent réason. :
'Richard Dykes is Christie’s 38-
year-old uncle; he also drives a
nice car. He too, suspects he has
been the victim of an escalating
national police abberation called
racial profiling which prompt po
lice officers toroust African-Ameri
can motorists caught in the act of
“driving while black.” '
Although the Turpin Hill neigh
borhood Christie and Dykes call
home has been a hotbed of violent
criminal activity, it is home to
mostly law-abidingcitizens. It is
the same neighborhood where
Richmond County Sheriff Charlie
Webster was booed and jeered
while addressing an impatient
erowd fed up with police abuses
in the wake of the shooting of an
unarmed black motoristin 1997.
No police were ever charged in
the killing, but Sheriff Webster
promised to be morg responsive
to the community’s needs.
When President Clinton an
nounced offhis anti-crime initia
tives in his state of the union
addressinJanuary 1994, he prob
ably had communities like Turpin
Hill in mind. On that night,
Clinton also vowed that 100,000
new police officers would help
stem the tide of rising street
crime by the year 2000.
See COPS, page 3A
“It is as a symbol offensive to most
African Americans,” he said.
Black legislators say the flag is a pain
ful reminder of slavery. Those who sup
port the flag say it symbolizes South
Carolina’s heritage. ;
“The fact that that picture was chosen
without any thought that it might possi
bly be offensive says something about the
environment in here and this body and
the lack of sensitivity on this issue,” said
Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, House minority
leader. :
The Orangeburg Democrat starts each
legislative session by saying the Pledge of
Allegiance to a small U.S. flag she keeps
on her desk to avoid having to look at the
Confederate banner above the House desk.
House Clerk Sandra McKinney edited
the manual and helped choose the. pic
tures, Speaker David Wilking said.
McKinney declined to comment. ‘and re
ferred questions to Wilkins. [ {hge,
Last year, the manual had igiiotoof
the exterior of the Statehouse where the
Confederate flag flies atop the dome. This
year, the photos were of the interior,
Wilkins said. “This is not an attempt to
offend anyone.” ;
Wilkins said the House would “look at
the cost” of redoing the manual, but he
was uncertain if it would be changed.
South Carolina remains the only state
to fly the battle flag, with its red back-
See FLAG, page 2A R
Blacks more likely
to have complaints
abhout local police
By Bennie McCurrie
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
; CHICAGO
Armand Andry isn’t surprised
that federal statistics show blacks
are more likely to be dissatisfied
with police than whites — he’s
shocked the numbers aren’t
higher.
Asurvey of 12 cities released by
the Justice Department on Thurs
day showed that 24 percent of
black Americans — nearly one in
every four — are unhappy with
their local police, compared with
about 10 percent of whites.
“I can’t believe how low it is,”
said Andry, an attorney in subur
ban Oak Park whorepresents sev
eral black clients who say they
were discriminated against by
police.
In Chicago, the nation’s third
largest city with 2.8 million
people, 39 percent of the popula
tion is black. The survey said 31
percent of blacks were dis Satisfied
with Chicago police, compared
with 11 percent of whites.
The study also included Madi
son, Wis., where 3 percent of blacks
the same figure as for whites —
were dissatisfied with police.
Thesurvey comes amid renewed
attention on allegations of police
discrimination and brutality
against minorities. Recent fatal
shootings of blacks by police in
Los Angeles and New York — and
increasing concern that minority
drivers are being targeted by po
lice in “racial profiling” — have
exacerbated already strained mi
nority relations with police.
InNew York, the survey showed
figures were 23 percent of blacks
were not satisfied with police, com
pared with 11 percent of whites.
In Washington, the figures were
closer together — 25 percent for
Louima reacts to verdict
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Abner Lovima , right, stands with Rev. Al Sharpton during a’;
news conference in New York Tuesday, June 8, 1999, after the
verdict was handed down in the trial against the four remain
ing police officers charged for brutally attacking himin a
police station bathroom in August 1997, Officer Charles
Schwarz, 33, was convicted of assavlt and civil rights violations
in the attack on Lovima, while three fellow officers were
acquitted in the incident. (AP Photo/Ron Frehm)
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Northwestern football player
Robert Anthony Russ, 22, of
Calumet City, 111., seen in this
Aug. 31, 1996 file photo, was
shot and killed while strug
gling with a Chicago police
officer during o troffic stop on
the Dan Ryan Expressway eariy
Saturday morning June 5,
1999. Lauri Sanders, a Chicago
Police Departmentspokes
woman, said a police investi
gation determined the shoot
ing was justifiable. Russ was
less than two weeks from
graduating. (AP Photo/File)
blacks, 19 percent for whites. In
Los Angeles, 18 percent of blacks
were dissatisfied, compared with
11 percent of whites, according to
the survey, which covered more
than 9,000 households, including
about 700 in each city.
Not all the survey news was
bad.
Overall, 85 percent of residents
surveyed said they were satisfied
See SURVEY, page 3A