Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 23, 1993 TAG: 9309230242
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The Task Force on Community Relations says there is a need for better communication throughout the Police Department - from the ground up and the top down.
It recommended that Chief M. David Hooper adopt a policy that would prohibit officers from any verbal or body language that is meant to demean, ridicule or denigrate another member of the department.
And now that the city has more than doubled the number of black officers, the panel said, it should make a similar recruiting effort to hire more women and other minorities.
In its second report, released Wednesday, the task force said the city should try to retain black police officers by providing them more timely promotional opportunities.
It also recommended:
Mandatory counseling of police officers involved in traumatic situations in order to remove the initial stigma that accompanies the process.
Better long-range planning, including establishment of criteria for a successor upon Hooper's retirement, so that policies, procedures and projects will be maintained.
That the city provide the funds needed to help achieve the department's long-range goals.
Hooper, who received a copy of the report Wednesday, said he would not comment until he has read it. City Manager Bob Herbert could not be reached for comment.
The task force was formed in 1990 after tension surfaced between the black community and police. The Roanoke chapter of the NAACP complained that police sometimes used excessive force in arresting blacks.
The panel wants the city to appoint a small, independent group of citizens to be part of an "early warning" system to monitor changes in policy or procedures that might harm police-community relations.
In its first report, in April 1991, the panel recommended hiring more black officers, community-oriented policing and several other changes that have been implemented.
The panel praised the city's progress:
"In reviewing where we were when the task force was created in October 1990 against where we are this summer of 1993, we are encouraged by the city's responses to our recommendations and are optimistic about positive action on these critical issues."
When the task force was created, the city had fewer than 10 black police officers. James Beatty, the city's chief recruiter, has said that the city's goal is to have at least 65 black officers on its 258-member force.
by CNB