Transcript of Community Meeting Hosted by Uncle Carlos, Police Officer
Uncle Carlos (UC): Thank you all for being here. I really think, with the hurt this community has experienced, that it’s important for us to come together and for me to be here to answer your questions as a representative of the city’s police department. There’s a microphone that’s being passed around, and I’ll take your questions shortly. Let me first just say that the status quo cannot stand. We at the police department know that things have to change. I am spearheading procedural reforms within the department, and the mayor just signed the body camera resolution, which we will be implementing. With that being said, I’m happy to take questions you may have.
Community Member 1* (CM1): Thank you for being here. My question is, how are we supposed to feel safe when the police act more like an occupying force than a community institution? No one calls the police around here anymore for a reason.
UC: I think you make a really good point. We need to get back to a community policing mindset. And I think through reform, we will slowly start to get there.
CM1: How? I don’t understand how body cameras will change the posture of police from invading our neighborhoods to actually wanting to help people.
UC: Police do want to help people. I want to help people, that’s why I took this job.
CM1: That doesn’t mean all of them do, nor does it mean that’s the attitude of the department.
UC: I… I don’t… look, I really think that’s where we want to get, and we’re working on it. Can we hear from the next person?
CM2: Hello. How are we supposed to feel anything other than anger when cops who kill people aren’t even charged with a crime?
UC: The anger is justified. Look, the law protects police officers, maybe too much. But to have that level of accountability, the law would need to change. And frankly, many officers are already fearful and would be very resistant to that change. There’s no good answer. I agree that it’s frustrating. The officer in question has been removed from the force, but your anger is justified that he wasn’t criminally charged.
CM2: How can you say that there’s no good answer when it’s clearly that the law needs to change?
UC: I mean… I mean, you’re right. We have to balance protecting police officers, though.
CM2: Police officers aren’t getting murdered for holding hairbrushes.
UC: Yes, ok. Can we hear from the next person?
CM3: I had a different question, but now I’m going to follow up on that. You said officers are fearful. Isn’t that dangerous? Don’t people make bad decisions when they’re fearful?
UC: Yes, I think that’s true, but policing is a dangerous job and police officers are human beings.
CM3: There needs to be a solution, though, because we can’t have cops running around scared and making bad choices that end in someone dying.
UC: I mean, you’re right. But I don’t know what that solution is. It’s a dangerous job. I’m open to suggestions.
CM4: Why was Khalil pulled over to begin with? The excuse was a traffic violation but it seems like it was because the cop was racist. How can reform help anything if cops are racist?
UC: I can understand your frustration. We cannot tolerate racism from police officers, but the reforms will also help because they will act as a check on officers to hopefully make them incapable of acting on racism, even their own implicit bias. Body cameras, for instance, will have a record of how officers act toward each person they encounter, so we can make sure there aren’t discrepancies. Thank you all so much for being here, and I’ll leave my contact information so you can follow up with me with additional questions.
*Names have been omitted for privacy.
Community Member 1* (CM1): Thank you for being here. My question is, how are we supposed to feel safe when the police act more like an occupying force than a community institution? No one calls the police around here anymore for a reason.
UC: I think you make a really good point. We need to get back to a community policing mindset. And I think through reform, we will slowly start to get there.
CM1: How? I don’t understand how body cameras will change the posture of police from invading our neighborhoods to actually wanting to help people.
UC: Police do want to help people. I want to help people, that’s why I took this job.
CM1: That doesn’t mean all of them do, nor does it mean that’s the attitude of the department.
UC: I… I don’t… look, I really think that’s where we want to get, and we’re working on it. Can we hear from the next person?
CM2: Hello. How are we supposed to feel anything other than anger when cops who kill people aren’t even charged with a crime?
UC: The anger is justified. Look, the law protects police officers, maybe too much. But to have that level of accountability, the law would need to change. And frankly, many officers are already fearful and would be very resistant to that change. There’s no good answer. I agree that it’s frustrating. The officer in question has been removed from the force, but your anger is justified that he wasn’t criminally charged.
CM2: How can you say that there’s no good answer when it’s clearly that the law needs to change?
UC: I mean… I mean, you’re right. We have to balance protecting police officers, though.
CM2: Police officers aren’t getting murdered for holding hairbrushes.
UC: Yes, ok. Can we hear from the next person?
CM3: I had a different question, but now I’m going to follow up on that. You said officers are fearful. Isn’t that dangerous? Don’t people make bad decisions when they’re fearful?
UC: Yes, I think that’s true, but policing is a dangerous job and police officers are human beings.
CM3: There needs to be a solution, though, because we can’t have cops running around scared and making bad choices that end in someone dying.
UC: I mean, you’re right. But I don’t know what that solution is. It’s a dangerous job. I’m open to suggestions.
CM4: Why was Khalil pulled over to begin with? The excuse was a traffic violation but it seems like it was because the cop was racist. How can reform help anything if cops are racist?
UC: I can understand your frustration. We cannot tolerate racism from police officers, but the reforms will also help because they will act as a check on officers to hopefully make them incapable of acting on racism, even their own implicit bias. Body cameras, for instance, will have a record of how officers act toward each person they encounter, so we can make sure there aren’t discrepancies. Thank you all so much for being here, and I’ll leave my contact information so you can follow up with me with additional questions.
*Names have been omitted for privacy.
April Ofrah’s Statement Following Community Meeting on Policing
Despite his sympathies and good intentions, the reforms that Carlos described in the community meeting are not sufficient. We have seen in other cities around the country that body cameras can be turned off, and reforms within police departments do not prevent the deaths of innocent people. I am calling on the city council to look to solutions for our city’s problems that do not involve continuing to pour money into the police force. How can we reimagine what policing looks like? Let’s use our creativity and harness technology to create a better world. Instead of pulling over a young man in the middle of the night for an alleged traffic violation, take a picture of his plate and send him the ticket in the mail. Instead of sending unprepared police officers as first responders to deal with mental health crisis situations, the city should hire mental health professionals who know how to do that job. Acknowledging that there is a problem is a start, but we as concerned citizens need to continue to put pressure on city council to make real, lasting changes.
About this Piece
For this genre, I started thinking about an “Accidental Power” activity I am using (Milner, et al., 2017) in my unit plan, which involves students taking on dramatic roles as characters in the novel, and I decided to expand on what a community meeting hosted by Uncle Carlos might sound like. In The Hate U Give, Carlos is caught between his identity as a man of color and his identity as a police officer. He is also caught between his love and sympathy for Starr and his defense of his career. I imagined that in a community meeting he would be sympathetic to community members’ frustration and pain, while also trying to explain reforms that he most likely spearheaded in the police department after Khalil’s death. As I was writing from his perspective, I realized that Carlos’ perspective on reform will inherently be limited by the fact that he is part of the police department. With that in mind, I added a statement released by April Ofrah, a community organizer and Starr’s lawyer, in response to the meeting, effectively saying Carlos isn’t thinking big enough.
References
Milner, J., Milner, L. & Mitchell, J. (2017). Bridging English. Pearson.
Thomas, A. (2017). The Hate U Give. Harper Collins.
Milner, J., Milner, L. & Mitchell, J. (2017). Bridging English. Pearson.
Thomas, A. (2017). The Hate U Give. Harper Collins.