At the urging of President Barack Obama in response to unrest in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts is serving on the White House task force to identify crime prevention strategies and ways to improve levels of trust for law enforcement operations nationwide ("Police Commissioner Batts says police need to tackle racism to build trust," Feb. 13).
The facts are that racial tensions have been exacerbated over the years by misdirected efforts on both sides of the debate. From indiscriminate mass arrest policies to misguided affirmative action programs, these initiatives have actually created further racially charged issues with many unintended consequences.
Further complication won't solve the problem.
It really isn't at all about race (or doesn't have to be) anyway. It's about humanity and good sound reasoning, judgment and common sense. As chronicled in my book "Still Seeking Justice: One Officer's Story" and as a former Baltimore police officer and West Virginia chief of police, I can say that a good cop takes an ownership type of interest in his or her primary patrol area and does everything lawfully possible to help make that community the best that it can be.
Mr. Batts clearly has a lack of understanding of the East Coast and of Baltimore. The racial climate in Baltimore is not like that of the 1950s as expressed by Mr. Batts. As I suggested at the time of his hiring, West Coast law enforcement is entirely different from that of the East Coast in a multitude of ways. Someone without a clear historical perspective and a vested interest in Baltimore can't lead with success and is doomed to failure. No wonder the assessment by Mr. Batts is that "It's not going to get better — it's going to get worse" when addressing the issue of the public's trust of the police.
Baltimore has benefited from many homegrown career Baltimore police officials who understood both the role of the police and community relations by having their fingers on the pulse of this city. From Bishop Robinson to more recently Leonard Hamm and Frederick Bealefeld III, all had more successful tenures as police commissioner by knowing what an outsider cannot about Baltimore and it's people.
I suggest it's time for the Californians and outsiders to go home. Things can and will get better with both the proper leadership and culture. Here's a good start for rebuilding both the public's and department's level of trust. Promote from within!
Joel E. Gordon, Masontown, W. Va.