Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 26, 1990 TAG: 9007260403
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Federal authorities in Washington, D.C., could not confirm Wednesday if they have started an inquiry, which was called for by Evangeline Jeffrey, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in Roanoke.
But Jeffrey said in a news conference that Justice Department officials have told her they will investigate allegations that city police have used excessive force and racial slurs in the arrests of some black citizens.
Police Chief M. David Hooper said he welcomes an inquiry by a "competent, independent third party.
"A charge of inappropriate action and racial slurs is something the department takes quite seriously," Hooper said. "We don't approve of or tolerate such treatment of the public by members of the department."
While saying he knew of "no pattern" of excessive force or racism by police, Hooper declined to discuss the NAACP's allegations.
Jeffrey said the NAACP is concerned about reports that a William Fleming High School coach and counselor, John Canty, was allegedly beaten and called racist names by police as they arrested him for impeding police. Canty said he was trying to assist two girls charged with trespassing over the weekend.
Standing near a Northwest Roanoke Hardee's where the fracas happened, Jeffrey said there have been other recent cases - at least eight - in which police have used excessive force after a black suspect had been arrested and handcuffed.
"It's really uncalled for," she said. "Any time you have a suspect in custody and you continue to deliver more punishment on him, that's excessive force.
"And at no point is it necessary to have racial slurs," she said.
Part of the problem, Jeffrey said, is that some officers are apparently "still harboring some racial prejudice. They take these opportunities where they are in charge of a situation to vent their hostilities" on blacks.
Jeffrey said many of the allegations of excessive force involve the arrests of large, black men. In many cases, the men are charged with resisting arrest or impeding police.
"We're very worried that a trend is being set," she said. "We can't let the police just run rampant and not be mindful of the rights of the innocent people they come in contact with."
In at least two cases, she said, police officers have ripped gold chains from the necks of suspects they were arresting.
Some police seem to consider gold jewelry an indication that the blacks are involved in drug dealing or other illegal activity, she said. "It seems as if [the jewelry] is something they resent," she said.
Jeffrey cited another example of what she said was excessive force used by police: an incident in which officers were called to a report of drinking in public at the Hurt Park housing project.
The NAACP contends that police used too much force in breaking up what amounted to a family cookout.
Two people, David Lee Mason and Michelle Saunders, were arrested there and charged with assaulting police officers. At a recent hearing in Roanoke General District Court, a judge convicted them and sentenced them to jail terms. The case is being appealed to Circuit Court.
But regardless of the case's outcome in court, Jeffrey said, the NAACP believes that police continued to beat Mason after they had him in custody.
Police officers testified during the hearing that Mason and Saunders resisted arrest and that some force was required to subdue them.
"When force became necessary, they used the minimal amount that was needed, but it didn't faze [Mason]," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Mac Doubles, who prosecuted the case. "Consequently, the amount of force escalated."
Mason conceded in court that he has been convicted of several serious offenses, including manslaughter. He testified that an officer "run up and chunked me" with a night stick and ripped a gold chain off his neck. "I wrestled with them to protect myself," he said.
Jeffrey said there have been other incidents of excessive force by police. In one case, she said, a police officer was suspended last year for using excessive force in arresting a black for a traffic offense. She declined to name the officer or go into specifics.
And Earnestine Garrison, who attended Wednesday's news conference, said she often saw examples of police brutality when she lived in the 600 block of Harrison Avenue Northwest - an area of frequent drug dealing.
Police officers often beat drug suspects after they had been arrested and handcuffed, Garrison said.
"They laughed," Garrison said of the officers. "It seemed like they were enjoying doing it."
Jeffrey said the NAACP has been closely monitoring the Police Department since last month, when incidents of rock and bottle throwing on 11th Street Northwest raised the issue of the lack of blacks on the police force.
Some black citizens said a predominantly white police force is at a disadvantage when it responds to problems in the black community.
Of the 244 sworn police officers, eight are black in a city with a black population of between 20 and 25 percent.
After Canty's arrest, Jeffrey said, the NAACP decided to step up its efforts in calling for an investigation. Jeffrey said she also plans to relay her concerns to George Snead, who is the city's director of administration and public safety and is Hooper's immediate supervisor.
The NAACP is concerned about what it perceives to be poor relations and a lack of understanding between the black community and the Police Department.
Officers often show up in force when there is a report of a problem in a predominantly black area, some citizens have said.
Onzlee Ware, the attorney for Mason and Saunders, said after the General District Court trial that he was concerned that police may sometimes overreact in areas where they have been trying to crack down on open-air drug dealing.
He said that, in general, the police "do a fine job, and we'd be in bad shape without them." But "they're human. They can overreact. . . . I'm concerned that it seems like anything goes when it concerns the housing projects."
There is "a legitimate fear on both sides," Ware said. Unless communication between the police and the community can improve, he said, the fear and distrust will continue and eventually "somebody's going to really get hurt."
Gary Curtis, pastor of the Mount Zion AME Church, said he attended the news conference because he agrees that police need to improve relations with blacks.
"To me, it seems that there is some sort of phobia with the Police Department in concern with black males," he said.
Curtis said that having more black police officers on the force might cut down on the "stereotypes" that may contribute to the problem.
Meanwhile, Ware said Tuesday that he plans to file a complaint with the Police Department on behalf of Canty, a dropout-prevention counselor who also coaches football and wrestling at William Fleming High School. He said six police officers beat Canty with billy clubs, sprayed him with Mace and called him "nigger" during a weekend altercation at a Hardee's in Northwest.
Hooper said Wednesday that his department has already started an internal investigation. He said he also plans to meet with Jeffrey.
Lewis Peery, a well-known black leader and head of the city's crime prevention program, said after a march against drugs last month that the lack of black police officers "is not a concern of mine."
He said the problem is that too few blacks apply for police jobs, because the work is dangerous and they have other opportunities.
"I think you ought to respect the Police Department," Peery said. "I don't have any problem with them - and I've been living here 43 years."
Staff writer Mike Hudson contributed information for this story.
by CNB