NEWS 5’S.
DR. MCKEE HAS THE STORY WHEN I WATCHED GEORGE FLOY BEING KILLED ON TV IT DEVASTATED I WAS NUMB FOR TWO DAYS AND THEN I KIND OF SNAPPED OUT OF IT THEN ANGRY TOOK OVER WHEN YOU PEEL
BACK HIS LAYERS.
THEN I BEGIN TO FEEL THIS THIS BURDEN WANTING TO CRY.
HIS PAIN IS MORE PALPABLE.
HIS TRUTH IS SHAPED BY THE COLOR OF HIS SKIN AND THE BADGE ON HIS CHEST.
I HAVE TO GO IN BEING A BLACK MAN IN A POLICE OFFICER AND GETTING PEOPLE TO SEE BOTH LOUIS ARNOLD APPRECIATE SUPPORTERS OF POLICE, BUT NOT THOSE WHO DO SO BLINDLY.
THIS IS THE REALITY GEORGE.
IT’S SITUATION SHOW EVERYONE THAT EVERYTHING POLICE DO IT’S NOT RIGHT.
HE SAYS HE’S SEEN POLICE BRUTALITY UP CLOTHES FOR MEN IN A UNIFORM THAT HE NOW WEARS PROUDLY.
I’VE BEEN WANTING TO BE A COP EVER SINCE I WAS A KID.
MY UNCLE WAS A COP AS HE GREW UP IN AVONDALE HATE GREW WITH HIM IN 1967 SUMMER RIOTS HAD CINCINNATI’S BLACK NEIGHBORHOODS AND DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND ACTUALLY WITNESSING
POLICE BRUTALITY ON TEENAGERS.
IT CHANGED HOW I VIEW POLICE DECADES LATER.
HE WAS RE-INSPIRED AFTER HIS SON BECAME A COP AT AN AGE MOST OFFICERS RETIRE.
HE WAS SWORN IN HE’S NOW THE FAITH-BASED COMMUNITY OFFICER AND PRESIDENT OF CPD SENTINEL POLICE ASSOCIATION A GROUP OF ABOUT 200 PREDOMINANTLY BLACK OFFICERS.
MAKING SURE THAT OUR MEMBERS WHO ARE PREDOMINANTLY BLACK MEMBERS ARE TREATED FAIRLY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT.
THAT’S WHAT CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY AL GERHARDSTEIN HAS FOUGHT FOR FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY WITHIN CPD.
HE SAYS THERE’S STILL A LONG ROAD AHEAD.
BUT THE DEPARTMENT HAS COME A LONG WAY MOST CITIES DO A WORSE JOB THAN CINCINNATI.
DOES HE SAYS THE COLLABORATIVE AGREEMENT SIGNED ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO PAVED THE WAY THIS ISN’T YOUR DAD’S POLICE DEPARTMENT.
THIS IS A DEPARTMENT THAT’S TRYING TO BUILD TRUST BY WORKING THROUGH PROBLEMS AND NOT JUST ARRESTING PEOPLE A THAT GIVES ME HOPE HOPE THAT THROUGH COMMUNITY POLICING IN HUMANIZING
THE BADGE PERCEPTIONS ARE CHANGING AND PROGRESS IS BEING MADE BUT BOTH MEN SAY UNDERSTANDING THE RACIST HISTORY OF POLICING IS KEY TO UNDERSTANDING THE ORIGIN OF THE
MISTRUST DURING THE SLAVERY ERA SLAVE PATROLS CHASE DOWN RUNAWAY SLAVES POLICE ENFORCED JIM CROW LAWS, AND THEN YOU MOVE INTO THE INCHEON ARE WHERE YOU HAD LAW ENFORCEMENT STANDING THERE
WATCHING PEOPLE BEING LYNCHED THEN YOU MOVE INTO THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND WHEN DOGS WILL PUT ON PEOPLE HOSES WITH TURNED ON PEOPLE PEOPLE WERE BEATEN.
IT WAS LAW ENFORCEMENT THAT WAS DOING THAT.
HE SAYS DIALOGUE CAN HELP HEAL.
SO YOU HAVE ALL THOSE DECADES OF HISTORY OF NEGATIVE POLICING IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY AND THEN WE WANT TO GET TO THE 21ST CENTURY AND SAY WELL WHY CAN’T WE ALL JUST GET ALONG?
WHAT IS HIS NAME PAIN FRUSTRATION AND ANGER ON FULL DISPLAY THIS YEAR BIRTHED GENERATIONS AGO.
WE NEED TO DEAL WITH OUR PAST.
WE NEED TO DEAL WITH THE PAIN THAT WE CAUSED IN THE PAST AND EVEN SOME OF THE PAIN THAT WERE CAUSING TODAY.
THE SENTINELS WERE FOUNDED IN 1968 TO ADDRESS POLICE CORRUPTION AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION AND TODAY THEIR FOCUS IS ON MAKING SURE THEY’RE 200 OFFICERS.
ARE TREATED FAIRLY TONIGHT AT 11:00 THE SECOND PART OF THIS CONVERSATION THE PROGRESS A