Guest column: Understanding law enforcement, part one: The duality of truth

An essay written by: William Berry Jr., Shawn I. Butler and Brian Schenck Special to The Citizen Newspaper, published on Sunday, June 20, 2021

Policing is a complex task.

Policing is a profession grounded in a complicated variety of legally mandated and professional practices guided by personal ethics and integrity instilled from each officer’s upbringing, as well as the police academy, and then in-service training and real-work experiences.

Policing is a rewarding career, however fraught with dangerous possibilities; making split-second life-or-death decisions and facing the ire of some members of society who only see the uniform as a testament that reinforces calls for re-imagining, defunding or a major revamping of law enforcement departments. This last mindset places officers in an emotionally draining matrix that suggest the overall profession is mired in and devoid of sharing valued community aspirations, especially when the badge is inexplicitly tarnished by a very small minority in the profession who operate outside of the law and consciously, purposely or mistakenly reject the tenets of their sworn oath.

Understandably, for some, the history of policing in this country can be seen as strictly enforcement and protecting the privileged, as evidenced by the progression from slave patrols to red shirts to the start of organized police departments. And within this paradigm, like any other profession, there has been profound innovation, as well as detrimental policies and practices that may be directly affecting certain segments of society based on the racial and social economic proclivities of the citizenry at any given moment. The dilemma for law enforcement is all too often centered on finding the tenuous balance between public safety and the public’s expectations for police to effectively balance civil rights and public safety against the perceptions — and, in some cases, factual examples — of systemic racism and discriminatory bias that exist in different degrees and strata of society. This balance must also be considerate of what the individual community desires and expects from its local police department.

Those expectations can be an even more perilous tightrope for police leadership, activists, officers and allies. That line of demarcation can be due to a community’s overwhelming desire to vigorously maintain the status quo, or the surging, strongly held “minority” viewpoint that focuses on generational discrimination, or it can be fermented via challenges to the majority’s belief in not being held accountable for the historical sins of their elders. Of course, contemporary partisan political beliefs, inequities in attaining family wealth and social success, as well as decades-old residential segregation, make the task of resolution that much more difficult. And society expects law enforcement to find the strategic remedy.

Over time, society has relegated many social ills to policing responsibility and the unfair task of finding workable solutions, if any really exist, to such problems that oftentimes are not within the wheelhouse of expertise for the police to solve. It is clear that there is now a quagmire of expectations that has transitioned traditional policing toward a complex social service model that departments may be ill-equipped to satisfactorily resolve. Homelessness, opioid addiction, mental health issues, socioeconomic inequities and domestic conflicts have tasked policing with a multiplicity of human issues while the national conversation tackles use of force, qualified immunity, policing practices and protocols, and implicit biases.

In President Biden’s 2021 Peace Officer Memorial Day and Police Week proclamation, he accurately stated, “We must also stop tasking law enforcement with problems that are far beyond their jurisdictions. From providing emergency health care to resolving school discipline issues, our communities rely on the police to perform services that often should be the duty of other institutions. We then accuse the police of failure when responsibility lies with public policy choices they did not make. Supporting our law enforcement officers requires that we invest in underfunded public systems that provide health care, counseling, housing, education, and other social services.”

Unfortunately, these topics are riddled with entrenched positions, usually based on race or class or personal politics, where meaningful and respectful dialogue is the exception and not the norm. In Auburn and Cayuga County, law enforcement and social justice advocates continue to tackle the implications of national issues. However, folks involved in these group discussions and pre-COVID-19 community meetings remain driven and assertively centered on creating a community public safety mindset where there is fair and unbiased law enforcement at the local level to ameliorate and alleviate negative national issues from infesting our community.

All duly sworn and licensed officers understand that they are held to a higher standard and level of scrutiny regarding how they function and carry out their job responsibilities as contrasted with other professions. Society should be more sensitive to the emotional and physical implications officers are subject to and understand the clear majority of law enforcement officers are hard-working, community-focused, responsible and dedicated adherents to the mission and standards of their departments and oath they have sworn to uphold. It is indicative of a polarized society that all too often, the unflattering and inappropriate behavior of the few police miscreants are able to cast the entire profession in a negative modality. While there are intrinsic differences of opinion on interpreting statistics that may indicate unfair policing based on race, there may be the need to separate sanctioned policy and practices from the individual behavior of some officers. And there needs to be a recognition of race-based policing practices that are historically well-documented and tend to influence the thinking of those groups who have carried the brunt of such inappropriate policing behavior.

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William (bill) E. Berry Jr. chairs the board of the Harriet Tubman Center for Justice & Peace, serves as a board member of the United Way of Cayuga County, and publishes aaduna, an online literary and visual arts journal based in Auburn. Shawn I. Butler serves as chief of police for the Auburn Police Department, is president of the Central New York Association of Chiefs of Police, and is the Northeast regional chair of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, Midsize Agencies Division. Brian Schenck serves as the Cayuga County Sheriff.

Guest column: Understanding law enforcement, part two: The intricacies of moving forward

A Collaborative Essay written by: William Berry Jr., Shawn I. Butler and Brian Schenck Special to The Citizen, published on Sunday, June 27, 2021 in The Citizen, “Lake Life” section..

Berry: Rethinking social justice in the age of conflict and rage

Postscript William Berry Jr. Special to The Citizen, published March 7, 2021

A rendering showing what local artist Arthur Hutchinson's mural of Harriet Tubman will look like on the Nolan Block after it's installed by A&M Graphics.

Arthur Hutchinson, Artist

William Berry Jr. Special to The Citizen

I thank The Citizen for publishing my February four-part series, “Rethinking Social Justice in the Age of Conflict and Rage.” These essays appeared prior to March 4, the date conspiracy theorists marked to “inaugurate” 45’s retaking of presidential power and preventing the devastation of white culture and its manifest destiny.

Locally, we have choices. We can expand equity in all societal platforms, continue to battle generational racism and systemic biases, as well as challenge others who spew racial animosity. We can also identify pathways to influence the national political mindset. Or we can embrace other options.

We can succumb to insidious thinking grounded in white nationalism. We can embrace leaders who cloak their agenda for racial superiority as they promulgate racially driven legislation or articulate derisive public statements. We can embrace the ongoing disregard for people of color by the criminal justice system. We can overlook acts of disrespect that belittle the dignity of others. We can continue to overlook economic disparities that have an adverse impact on the middle class. We can disregard those economic constraints that inevitably create barriers for working class whites to embrace Blacks in understanding who the enemy really is. We can fail to mount a strategy that challenges the one-percenters and corporate institutions that hide wealth behind U.S. tax laws, offshore tax havens and D.C. lobbyists. We can decide if America is a class-driven society even as it allows a few folks to achieve financial rewards just to maintain the artificiality of equitable capitalism.

We can seek solace in politicians who are wannabees to 45’s legacy of misinformation and conspiracies seeded in capriciousness. We can rationalize domestic terror as righteous protest and fail to categorize such acts as the antithesis of morality. We can neglect to see that all lives matter. Fail to embrace folks who are different in their gender identification and sexual orientation; ignore their lack of federal protections under law. We can support seditious efforts to dismantle our democratic institutions and spread the God/Bible rationale for dehumanizing other Americans. We can extol voter suppression and overlook inequities in health care.

These dilemmas challenge community social justice advocacy and human dignity.

In Auburn/Cayuga County, residents must determine what challenges impact our collective lives and how to tackle those controversial issues. So far this year, just in March, there are several community organizations sponsoring a 21-Day Equity Challenge, book clubs that are discussing antiracism, and profane flags remaining present on homes. There is initial planning for police/community bias training, and the work of elected leaders finalizing local government’s response to the governor’s statewide order to rethink policing and its relationship with communities. At some point, we will determine whether or not there is relevancy in the school district’s new diversity initiative as the renaming of the high school will influence community direction when the next school board elections occur. Furthermore, we will assess our generosity to fund a new downtown mural that will celebrate a hometown hero.

We live to enjoy our lives. We strive to better our community to enrich and empower the aspirations of our children and grandchildren. And unfortunately, many residents face daily decisions to stand or succumb, include or exclude, support or ignore.

I trust there is a community mindset that acknowledges equity in all phases impacting new operations, projects or public observances. With such a direction, we can embrace the quality of thought and accomplishments of all of society’s contributors. Rest assured, these social justice behaviors are not an effort to rewrite the past but to chart the future.

Past race-based thinking was an intentional decision to overlook, diminish and ignore the rainbow of contributors who broadened and strengthened the public welfare. Remedies to address “what should have been” are not a homage to diversity or even to “old-school” affirmative action obligations — not a scheme to rewrite the past, but to grasp it. Embrace it. An opportunity to address the faults of prior generations that can only be our faults if we fail to remediate wrongful actions.

Our task should be to correct those missteps that denied honor and recognition because of race, class or gender, and ensure our current actions are predicated on a standard grounded in fairness and non-discrimination. This is our task. And unlike Sisyphus, we can push this “boulder” over the top of the hill. In doing so, we will determine how and where we stand and create a pathway for the next generation of social justice leaders.

William Berry Jr. is the chair of the The Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace Inc. and publisher of aaduna, an online literary and visual arts journal based in Auburn.

Berry: Rethinking social justice in the age of conflict and rage, part four: 'Stand.'

William Berry Jr. Special to The Citizen, published in the Lake Life section, February 28, 2021

A plaque honoring Booker T. Washington Community Center co-founder Lena M. Johnson at the Auburn center. (Provided)

William Berry Jr. Special to The Citizen

In the end you’ll still be you

One that’s done all the things you set out to do ...

Stand

For the things you know are right

It’s the truth that the truth makes them so uptight ...

Sylvester Stewart’s group Sly & The Family Stone released their controversial album “Stand!” in 1969, a record considered a platform for activists who fought “the powers that be.” Twenty years later in the summer of 1989, Chuck D and Public Enemy released “Fight the Power,” a song that uplifted social justice aspirations.

As the 2021 national political landscape evolves, there remain reverberations of election fraud; questions about the safety of D.C. politicians; how best to ensure democracy; and the future of conservatism as political thought. While impeachable charges failed, the get out of jail trump card will soon erode. Someone, somewhere, somehow will bring a legal conviction to ensure that no one is above the law.

On the local level, national dilemmas shape our thinking and motivate a variety of actions that are adversarial to community well-being. As such, there are critical questions. Do we assess our local leaders and institutions based on what is done locally or task them with the burden of our national imprint? Are residents to burden local political leaders, law enforcement, community groups, or neighbors under an umbrella of national attitudes and events external to our community? Do we evaluate local folk on what they say or do, or wrap their actions into our national preconceptions?

LIFESTYLES

'Willingness to change': Cayuga County orgs presenting Equity Challenge

• David Wilcox

As Auburn/Cayuga prepares for its Equity Challenge, residents will be able to contemplate social justice issues that illuminate inequities. We will be tasked to determine our “standing” on difficult issues, and in doing so may develop an enlightened understanding of community resources.

Celebrating 112 years, the NAACP continues to embrace its traditions with a lawsuit alleging the 45th president and his personal attorney collaborated with hate groups to thwart the work of elected officials, actions prohibited by the 1871 Civil Rights Act, commonly called the KKK Act. Our local branch, established in the '60s, works to confront discrimination while following the spirit of William Jackson, who served as branch president for 30 years.

The Auburn Human Rights Commission, a public agency, tackles discrimination in employment, education, housing, religion and public accommodation, and provides referrals for free legal services that pertain to housing, food stamps and social services. The HRC also presents public education programs.

The 1996 grassroots, nonprofit Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace continues its decades-old work to address inequities through collaborations with community institutions. With a multicultural board, HTCJP remains focused on the central themes to empower, engage, educate. It continues to articulate “best practices” and provide pertinent analyses to formulate change. The agenda still addresses inadequacies in institutional direction that falls below equity standards. And they understand community drives such activities.

Dialogues, book discussions, demonstrations, bias training, equity challenges and law enforcement outreach are rooted in community participation. Along with faith-based leaders, Pauline Copes-Johnson, Melina Carnicelli, the Rev. Paul G. and Christine Carter, Gwen Webber-McLeod and others are emboldened by progressives who keep their eyes on the prize to achieve equity. Within this spirit of planned change, there are allied organizations.

The Harriet Tubman Boosters, founded around 1953, were reinvigorated by Fred Richardson in 2008. Laurel Ullyette became president in 2010 and Trixie Jupin assumed that role in 2020. The Boosters organized Auburn’s first symposium celebrating Tubman during her centennial and support “Harriet Was Here in My Backyard,” a seven-year songwriting program for fourth-graders at Genesee Elementary School. Their annual “Strawberry Stroll” and agenda to articulate Tubman's accomplishments after the Underground Railroad enhance community vitality. Later this year, HTB plans to install a Tubman mural on the side of the Nolan Building designed by a local African-American artist. And while all organizational and individual efforts are applauded, there is another institution that represents who we are as a thriving equity-driven community.

The Booker T. Washington Community Center, originally called The Colored Community Center, has been an integral Auburn institution since October 1927. It was founded through the work of Mrs. Lena M. Johnson and Mrs. Martin to benefit the welfare of African-Americans. BTW has become a gathering spot for all people to be aware of and involved in issues of societal importance while mentoring children toward future leadership. During and after World War II, from 1942 to 1948, Eleanor I. Hardy served as director of the center. In September 1944, The Citizen Advertiser, Auburn’s newspaper, stated, “Few cities the size of Auburn have a community center as well equipped and as popular as the well known BTW Community Center on Chapman Ave. Eleanor Hardy, Director, has become one of Auburn's well known civic workers."

Today, BTW faces funding obstacles even while continuing its six after-school program sites, a COVID-19 assistance program called EDUcare, and tripling the number of youths served during the past six years. The center recently completed the purchase of its property from the city of Auburn and maintains its commitment to empowering children and community through a variety of social and cultural programs.

It is apparent our community is well-positioned to establish a county-wide equity agenda. Our region is not a perfect place; no geographical area is as long as there are differences in opinions and personal outlooks on life. The hope is that those differences are grounded in fact and articulated in respectful dialogue, especially when placed in the public domain. Listening and hearing opposing views are just as important as voicing one’s opinion. Clearly, there is still a lot of work to do, and that is not a jaded assessment.

For too long, local institutions continue to look homogeneous. There is lip service to equity and diversity, and contrived plans to engage other people who have been historically ignored. However, current workforces remain aspirational and performative versus documented change.

Let’s get real. Homogeneity is limiting. It retards growth in individual attitudes, lifestyle choices and service to any client base. It limits global competitiveness for our children’s future careers. Elected officials, through their ability to apply governmental resources, must be joined by political party, business, community, nonprofit, social justice and faith-based leaders who need to up “their game.” There must be a more rigorous analysis of aspirational motivations, and organizations need to transition lofty intentions to measurable, transparent standards that seed change. Assessment of effort is critically important. And there are unexpected allies if we are willing to look.

Prince was a phenomenal songwriter and illustrious performer, evidenced by his memorable 2007 Miami Super Bowl performance in pouring rain. Most of his admirers may not know Prince was a social justice advocate, and enriched his political chops when he released his 2001 epic CD, “the rainbow children.” One song was the clarion call for activists and allies, “the work, pt.1”

I’m willing 2 do The Work

Willing 2 do what I gotta do

I’m willing 2 do The Work

Tell me now — what about u?

Our answer should be,

Stand.

William Berry Jr., of Auburn, is a retired senior-level university administrator with over 33 years of service at various institutions. He currently serves as a consultant on issues centering on equity, inclusion, diversity and retention-oriented customer service while continuing his stance as an activist scholar commenting on a variety of social justice issues. He publishes aaduna, a global, online multicultural literary and visual arts journal, and is current chair of the Auburn-based Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace board. He can be reached at htcjpauburn@gmail.com.

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Part 1: Feb 7, 2021

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Part 2: February 14, 2021

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Part 3: February 21, 2021

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Part 4: February 28, 2021

Letter: History shows we can make social justice progress

“My View,” Gilda Brower, Letter to the Editor, The Citizen Newspaper, published August 21, 2020

Gilda Brower, HTCJP Vice-Chair & Founding Member, speaks at the Harriet Tubman Center for Justice & Peace, Inc. sponsored Town Hall Community Meeting held on June 27, 2020 at the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center in Auburn, NY (Photo credit: Lisa Brennan, HTCJP Board Secretary)

I trust each one of us can agree that societal changes have happened during our lives and our grandparents’ lives. Cars, televisions, computers, as well as world wars and the atom bomb, which was dropped on Hiroshima when I was  1 month old, are dynamic situations that prompted profound changes in human society. What is “normal” today was not normal at all in my grandmother’s day, or during most of my life. Consider the following facts to understand the “universality” of social justice changes that benefit every one of us today.

1. In 1900, when my grandmother was born, 80% of the world population was serf, peasant or slave and did not have the right to vote or legal protection.

2. Though voting rights were expanding throughout the world at that time, to a large extent only white men who owned land could vote. Most men and women were “owned” by their traditions, such as “share crop,” in which peasants, serfs and former slaves gave a portion of their crops to the “lords” who owned the land.

3. Peasants, serfs and slaves did not have legal “rights” to life and liberty.

4. It was legal to own humans for more than 40 centuries. Bias, such as white supremacy, inferiority of women and dehumanizing blacks and all nonwhites, was legal, and existed for centuries and throughout my own grandmother’s life (1900–1953).

5. Women were “purchased” for marriage and their person and their belongings became the legal possessions of their husbands.

6. Every kind of bias was legal, even unjust and abusive behaviors were condoned. Domestic violence was legal and condoned! Child abuse and sexual exploitation was condoned. “Victims” were ostracized and punished by the “system” which blamed the victims.

7. The 13th Amendment “freeing” all citizens of the United States was passed just 30 years before my grandmother was born.

8. “Civil Rights” legislation was passed in 1963, when I was in college, which allowed education and jobs to be available to blacks, women and other minorities.

9. Before “Civil Rights” legislation it was legal to deny education and jobs to women and people of color. Housing and jobs could legally be denied on the basis of race and sex. After "Civil Rights" legislation, jobs, housing and education started the long road of seeking equality for all; however, there continued to be obstacles, both covert and overt.

10. Prior to 1963 and throughout my life up to that time, it was legal to deny housing, deny jobs and physically abuse minorities, wives and children. (Remember the old saying, “spare the rod, spoil the child”?) It was legal to hang a sign saying, “Blacks need not apply” (for jobs or housing).

11. Since 1963, the long hard road of pushing against long-established norms and biases has been challenged legally. We now, thanks to civil rights legislation, openly address domestic violence, which is no longer condoned. We now openly address child abuse, and priests are no longer allowed to sexually abuse children, which was quietly condoned and overlooked all over the world. Workplace sexual harassment is no longer condoned, as evidenced by celebrities who have lost their “privilege” and their careers due to sexual harassment of employees. African-Americans and women are now able to study medicine and law. Blacks are more able to live wherever they would like, rather than finding absolute restrictions confining them to one (often rundown) neighborhood.

Therefore, we all agree that ...

12. There are many good reasons why we all feel biases for our political parties, sports teams and churches. Most of our biases are helpful and good. Only biases removing personal safety and liberty of others are both unconstitutional and, thankfully now, unlawful.

13. Every citizen, Republican, Democrat, woman, man, Baptist, Catholic, Jewish, or Muslim, are benefiting from equal opportunity, freedom from sexual harassment and freedom from violence (domestic and institutional).

14. Violence, which law enforcement addresses every day, is the product of neglect, mental illness, poverty, systemic racism and ignorance. We are all united in our commitment to address violence and the victims trapped in abusive and toxic lives.

15. It now feels normal to have African Americans and women become doctors, lawyers and successful businessmen and women, and for diverse candidates and politicians to routinely seek the votes of women and minorities. None of that was normal in my grandmother’s day. The vote was given to women when she was 20 years old. And in my lifetime prejudice and legally condoned injustices did not start to be addressed until I turned 20! Not that long ago!

Auburn resident Gilda Brower is a founding member of the Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace and also a member of the Auburn Human Rights Commission.

“My View,” Gilda Brower, Letter to the Editor, The Citizen Newspaper, published August 21, 2020

View Letter As Published

Finding Common Ground Regarding Social Justice Issues...

Auburn Police Chief Shawn Butler chats with Auburn resident Bill Berry at the department's Coffee With a Cop event in 2017 at McDonald's. Natalie Brophy, The Citizen Newspaper

“In today’s divisive climate, finding common ground regarding social justice issues and equity in all phases of daily life may be similar to those family gatherings around national holidays. In those times, at the family dinner table or afterwards fueled by a round of libations, inherent differences of opinion all too often lead to heated discussions where feelings are hurt, and betrayals felt. As we move forward such discussions in Auburn and the county, we have been able to avoid such pitfalls. Will that continue?

The trust is that our ongoing dialogues will speak to each person’s truth and heard in a respectful manner. No one will attain all that s/he wants. Workable compromise has to be a guiding goal since the community and law enforcement, as well as governmental agencies, elected officials, corporate and non-profit entities, cannot prosper for the best interests of all people in the community under the cloak of an ongoing pandemic of indifference and mistrust. And we must always keep in mind, we are prepping society for the benefits of our children and grandchildren.

- William E. Berry, Jr., chair, HTCJP”

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MY VIEW: The Citizen Newspaper, August 2, 2020

Kerr: We must seek common ground in Cayuga County

Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. The Thin Blue Line. The Blue Wall of Silence. Peaceful Protestors. Violent Looters. These phrases represent varied and often oppositional points of view that have risen to a level of contention beyond the pale in our country. Americans have become so divided on issues of racism and discrimination, police brutality and protection that it has become nearly impossible to have a conversation around these issues, and even more difficult to find any common ground to advance progress toward meaningful social change.

As a newly elected official I am carefully watching and learning from the relationship that continues to evolve between the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office, Auburn Police Department and social justice organizations in our community. These leaders recognize that racism exists, and that the goal to support law enforcement is not mutually exclusive of the goal to advance social and racial justice. We are fortunate to have strong civil rights and law enforcement leaders working on these issues locally. Over the years, trust and mutual respect has been established through words, actions, missteps and commitment to continued forward progress.

The NAACP’s recent criticism of Sheriff Brian Schenck for his endorsement of statewide sheriff’s association proposals was met by our sheriff with open ears and a strong desire to understand concerns and preserve relationships built over years. I spoke with Sheriff Schenck about his endorsement, which was rooted in a desire to protect law enforcement, which I share. I also spoke with Auburn Police Department Chief Shawn Butler, who echoed a need to support our officers who put their safety on the line every day to protect the public.

I had an opportunity to speak with Eli Hernandez from the Auburn-Cayuga Chapter of the NAACP and Bill Berry from Harriet Tubman Center for Justice and Peace about their concerns with the sheriff’s association proposals, including lack of transparency and inclusiveness in developing them, as well as specific provisions they felt could be abused or potentially detrimental to the safety of people of color. I appreciated hearing their perspectives on a personal level, which helped me better understand some of their concerns.

LOCAL NEWS

Cayuga County sheriff criticized for endorsing 'dangerous' proposals

• David Wilcox

These brief conversations were long enough to convince me that it is possible to find common ground in this sea of discontent. This incident quickly brought our law enforcement and civil rights leaders to the table to talk through concerns and identify solutions on how to be more inclusive moving forward. All parties recognized the importance of involving the community and residents in public policy decision-making. To that end, a series of public events are being planned by local government in partnership with social justice organizations.

At 11 a.m. Aug. 10, the Auburn Police Department will provide a formal presentation to the leadership of Auburn’s social justice organizations and public at large. Led by Chief Butler, this gathering will seek to enhance understanding of Auburn Police Department’s policies, protocols, operational procedures and other issues. Stay tuned for a similar presentation to be provided by the sheriff’s office in the near future, as well other community engagement events.

As a county legislator, I join our county sheriff, city police chief, civil rights leaders and others to move this important work forward and expect the public to hold me accountable in doing so. In the words of Sheriff Schenck: “Words and actions can destroy a bridge. Our community must work to build them. Mistakes will be made as we build but that is OK. Just keep working. I have crossed a few bridges that weren’t made of steel and concrete during my career and I recognize that I have a few more to cross. I hope you will join me. This work is important and well worth the effort.”

COLUMNS

Schenck: We must be willing to cross bridges to move community forward

• Brian Schenck

It is important to protect the progress made to build bridges between government and people of color in our community, to extend those bridges beyond law enforcement to all areas, and to ensure that government of the people, by the people, for the people remains fundamental in our approach to governance. I commit to this guiding principle, and to help find common ground on policies and actions that will lead to positive change for people of color in our community.

Tricia Kerr is a Cayuga County legislator representing District 12.