Newspaper Page Text
COPS program short on
community involvement
=rom page one
-Here in Augusta, the sheriff’s
epartmentjumped at the chance
5 get their hands on the $4 mil
on in Community Oriented Po
icing Services (COPS) grant
loney offered by the newly
atched federal program.
:The money, however, came with
ome strings attached. Not only
id the county have to match the
rant (one local dollar for every
aree given up by the feds), they
Iso had to buy into the
overnment’s community polic
ag concept. The bottom line in
aecommunity policing movement
¢ that the police and community
orm a partnership in the fight
gainst crime. Community polic
-Ig, when done properly, results
Isituations where criminals vol
ntarily move on because the com
junity serves as the eyes and
ars for the police department.
‘orsuch an arrangement towork,
-1e police have to build bridges of
‘-ust into the community. By all
ccounts, this hasyet tohappenin
rugusta where the local NAACP
-as called on the sheriff to resign
‘nd where more ambitious activ
sts have begun a move to get
-»gislation passed that would re
-trict the sheriff’s jurisdiction to
<le county lockup.
While the county continues to
ump millions of COPS dollars
Ito the sheriff's budget, there
" ppears to be no identifiable com
" lunity-policing program in place
' - certainly, none exists that uti
“ zes all or even most of the per
“snnel hired for that purpose.
Under the three-year COPS
‘rant program, the federal gov
rnment provides participating
1w enforcement agencies with 75
“ ercent of funding to help pay for
fficers’ salaries and benefits, ac
? or?ing to Dan Pfeiffer a COPS
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spokespersonin Washington,D.C.
The remaining 25 percent is
supplemented by thelocal grantee
—in this case, Richmond County
government. The federal program
provides over $3.9 million with
the county chippinginits share at
just over $1 million.
Local law enforcement officials
say the COPS money isbeingused
in the proper spirit. According to
Major Richard Weaver of the
Sheriff's department, four addi
tional beats have been created
because of the COPS program.
“We emphasize courtesy and be
ing able to control your own neigh
borhood,” he said.
But in attempting to describe
the primary role of COPS person
nel, Weaver expressed some un
certainty. “I would think they
would have them all around, but I
reallydon’tknow.” Hedid say that
some of the staffers ride bicycles,
which allows for more individual
ized interaction between the po
lice and the public.
Unlike the Sheriff’s
department’s DARE program,
where specially-trained officers
ride through neighborhoods in
easily identifiable black and red
vans, COPS personnel are not
distinguishablein the community.
Still, Weaver feels the COPS
initiative is a way of improving
relationships in the community.
“Anything we can do to better
our image, we try to do so and
hopefully, people can see we’re
trying to make it better — espe
cially in the past year,” he said.
Jimmy Murray, board chairman
for the Richmond County Human
Relations Commission, however,
is not convinced the COPS pro
gram is having the desired affect.
“I don’t think they’re visible
enough. Many people probably
don’t realize how this (COPS pro
gram) even works. Because of my
position, 'm aware of the pro
at'voy vod wlof e »
gram, but I haven’t seen it pro
moted. To me, it’s just like an
other 60-some people on the pay
roll and they’re just assuming
regular police work,” he said.
Murray, along with Richmond
County Human Relations Com
mission director, Frank Thomas,
are currently at odds with Sheriff
Webster in response to his failure
to accept a proposed 10-member
citizens review committee toserve
as a police watchdog.
Despite the lofty aims of the
community policing tactics,
Murray is not sold on whether
community policing tactics are
effective here — or anywhere.
“] don’t know ... most people are
not interested in the police com
ing up to your home, being touchy
feely — whether in the white or
black community. If I need them,
I'll call.”
But Murray, who also works
full-time with the Medical College
of Georgia’s fire safety depart
ment, acknowledged a mistrust
Auditions for “A Raisin in the Sun”
will be held at the Belle Terrace
Community Center on June 21, 23 28
and 30 at 7 p.m. nightly. The dinner
theater performance will be held on
August 27 and 28 and September 3
and 4. For more information, call
Causandra at (706) 790-7039.
in the black community. “That’s
something that needs tobeworked
out,” he added. “This mistrust
causes people to get scared, they
run and the problems have started
all over again,” he said.
The first of a total of 68 officers
were hired for the local COPS
program in November 1997, ac
cording to Mary Ann Gibbs, a fi
nancial administrator with the
Sheriffs Department. The new
hires earn entry level salaries at
$21,874 annually.
When federal monies are no
longer available next year, the
county will be required to con
tinue the program at about a mil
lion dollars annually, in accor
dance with grant requirements.
The COPS program is supported
by mayor Bob Young, county ad
ministrator Randy Oliver and
county commissioners Lee Beard,
J.B. Powell and Bill Kuhlke.
Sheriff Webster could not be
reached to add comments to this
story.
AUGUSTA FOCUS
From page one
with local police. Twelve percent
said they were dissatisfied and 3
percent said they were very dis
satisfied.
Hispanics were included as ei
ther black or white in the survey
based on their individual prefer
ence.
The biggest black-white differ
ence was in Knoxville, Tenn.,
where 37 percent of blacks said
they were dissatisfied with police
compared with 9 percent for
whites.
Three black men died in con
frontations with Knoxville police
during a seven-month period in
1997, enraging the black commu
nity andleading Mayor Victor Ashe
to create a citizen panel to review
complaints against officers.
Many black Americans clearly
believe they are treated differ
ently from whites, said Deputy
Attorney General Eric Holder, who
announced the results of the sur
vey in Washington.
R. Eugene Pincham, a Chicago
attorney and former judge who
often defends accused traffic of
fenders, claims that all ofhis black
clients were targeted because of
their race.
“Surely, this isn’t news,”
Pincham said of the survey. “All
you have todois go to traffic court
any day of the week and see the
people lined up two abreast in a
line a half a block long. And 99
percent of them are black.
“Now, are you trying to tell me
blacks folks don’t know how to
drive as well as whites?”
Pincham might have a point,
said David Harris, alaw professor
at the University of Toledo in
Ohio who wrote a report on racial
Able-disAbled will hold its monthly meeting
on Saturday, June 19, at 2 p.m. in the
Terrace Room of Bon Air Apartments,
2101 Walton Way.
For more information, call 731-9521
or 729-9525.
JUNE 10, 1999
profiling released by the Ameri--«,
can Civil Liberties Union this'3:
week. The report said the waron:*.
drugs has significantly increased «,
the number of traffic stops based %"
on race throughout the country.
“Everybody breaks trafficlaws,”. |
Harris said. “One cop told me the .
driver has not been born that can .
go more than three blocks with- |
out violating some state driving '
law. It’s not a question of what .
offense they’re going after, it's’a |
question of who they’re going as-. '
ter.” b
Ifracial profilingiswidely preva- .
lent in Chicago, police complaint '
records don’t reflect it, police
spokeswoman Lauri Sanderssaid. .
“Theresults ofthe survey, while |
not the best, are far from discour- -
aging,” Sanders said. “But we've .
not heard of that in our office of !
professional standards, or in in
ternal affairs. Of course, we get .
complaints. But not about racial |
profiling.” A
Profiling, in general, is a key .
component of police work, Sand- |
ers said, because officers regu
larly search for suspects based on -
their physical appearance. :
“But to say the whole concept of
whatwedocanbelabeled asracial -
profiling is wrong,” she said. “At .
the same time, we certainly feel
that any officer who stops some
one based solely on their skin
complexion or gender is plain .
wrong.” '
According to the ACLU’s re
port, many people of color refer to
racial profiling as “driving while
black or brown” or DWB. .
Andry bristles at the use of the
- racial profiling or DWB to ,
describe alleged mistreatment. -
“It’s making something sound |
sophisticated that isn’t sophisti- '
cated at all,”hesaid. “Why dignify :
something with a high-tech sound- |
ing label when it’s just garden-'
variety racial prejudice?” :
3A