Feds steps in on Dallas Neighborhood to ease racial tension with Police
/- Originally published in THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS September 19, 2004
Justice Department steps in on tensions Official: 'We'll be here as long as we need' to address concerns on race and police
By: PAUL MEYER, Collin County Bureau
McKINNEY - An official with the U.S. Department of Justice said Saturday that her agency will spend "as long as we need" in McKinney to help calm escalating racial tensions between police and residents in an east-side neighborhood.
Carmelita Pope Freeman, regional director of the department's Community Relations Service, said she hopes to bring money, time and dialogue to the neighborhood surrounding Manor House Apartments.
Since March, residents and civil rights leaders there have complained of racial profiling and harassment by police when four people were killed nearby.
"We'll be here as long as we need to be here," Ms. Freeman said.
Her remarks came at a public forum where about 90 residents, police officials, city officials, church leaders and Dallas civil rights leaders gathered in a small, white-framed church to air concerns and begin working toward solutions.
Police believe residents around the apartments have information about who committed the four execution-style slayings that remain unsolved. The answers, they say, are tied up in a deepening drug trade in the area that, along with death threats against officers, has led to increased patrols.
Residents and some civil rights activists, however, say police tactics have caused the unnecessary targeting of law-abiding residents, including children.
"I'd like to see a reframing of the discussion," said Police Chief Doug Kowalski, who welcomed Justice Department involvement but hoped to reduce the number of civil rights leaders coming from outside the city. "If you look in the media, it looks like the Police Department is against the community. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Chief Kowalski said the department plans to increase community policing while working with residents through mediation to reduce animosity.
The area around Manor House apartments, police say, is responsible for more calls for service than any other residential beat in the city, including having the most drug-related arrests. The area is also the poorest in Collin County, according to census data.
Saturday's forum included former Dallas NAACP president Lee Alcorn, veteran Dallas civil rights leader Peter Johnson and the Rev. Ronald Wright of Dallas, among others.
Mr. Alcorn led a rally outside police headquarters after the forum.
"I'm sick of the police saying it's so bad over there that people are afraid to come out of their houses. I am sick of all the lies going into the newspaper. I am sick of you all stereotyping young black men," resident Deidra Nobles said. "My kids are scared of the police now."
Most who attended the forum pledged to work together to remove drugs from the neighborhood and continue talking with the department.
"The east side of McKinney is policed differently from the west side of McKinney," said Mr. Johnson, calling the number of black officers an indication of a history of racism in the area.
Between 7 percent and 8 percent of McKinney officers are black, according to police statistics. That matches with city's population as a whole, which is about 7.2 percent black. But the east-side neighborhood is about 21 percent black, according to census data.
"We've been on this road since 1978. We've had to have too many meetings with you all," resident Martha Nelson said. "I'm not a criminal. I work hard every day. But I come out of my house and see an officer give a young boy a ticket for not having a light on his bicycle."
Others, however, praised the department for years of improvement on the city's east side.
They also credited Chief Kowalski with maintaining an open door for residents and community leaders to voice concerns.
City officials say additional meetings would be scheduled with the Justice Department.
Ms. Freeman said the Justice Department can devote full resources to two Texas cities each year. She pledged to make McKinney one of those cities, promising to help the community secure grants and mediation services.
"It would appear that this is a city that allows racially motivated incidents," Mr. Wright said. "On the other hand, this is a community that has allowed drugs into their neighborhood. These things need to be stopped."
