LOS ANGELES - Frustration prompted Pasadena Police Chief Bernard Melekian to
look for
alternative methods of resolving conflict between his department and the
community.Citizen
complaints went unresolved and there was a lack of trust and communication. "We just keep
doing the same thing over and over again," Melekian said. "It's time to
get off of the merry
go-round."
Eighty percent of complaints about police misconduct are about perceived attitudes
and misunderstandings about police practices, he said. Many of those complaints, Melekian
believes, could be worked out through mediation,
as opposed to the traditional investigation route.
"It takes too long through internal affairs," he said. "And the citizen never knows the
outcome."
Police officers are also often kept in limbo, awaiting the outcome on administrative leave.
In search of a new approach, Melekian turned to the Western Justice Center Foundation.
Partnering with the Pasadena-based organization and Los Angeles County Bar Association
Dispute Resolution Services, the police department launched a mediation and dialogue
program this summer.
"The program combines mediation of citizen complaints against the police
and dialogue for larger community-based conflicts," said Najeeba Syeed -Miller, executive director
of the Western Justice Center Foundation. It is the first mediation program in Southern California to address citizen complaints against police officers through individual mediation sessions and
regular community dialogues, said Syeed -Miller, who discussed the new program at an Aug.
4 press conference.
Syeed -Miller added that Merrick Bobb , director of the Police Assessment Resource Center and
former deputy general counsel of the Christopher Commission, is monitoring the program.
"This
is the first program that we are aware of in the state that is being monitored by an outside citizen's oversight organization and with someone of Merrick 's caliber involved," Syeed -Miller said.
The first community dialogue was held on June 25 at the All Saints Church in Pasadena.
The dialogue
focused on interracial issues and reconciliation between the community and the police department.
Syeed -Miller said one the key goals of the dialogue was to establish trust between the community
and the police department.
Twenty-five officers from the Pasadena Police Department, 17 neutral facilitators and 120
community members attended the session. "This is unprecedented in terms of police and
community
participation at one event," Syeed -Miller said. She said she hopes such dialogues
will help transform simmering tensions between the community and the police. "The reason why
this program is
important is that most major urban conflicts have emerged from tensions between communities and the police," Syeed -Miller said. "We are seeking to have the community and the
police move to conflict management instead of crisis management. It is proactive and not reactive."
Syeed -Miller said the dialogue provided an opportunity for a positive interaction between
community members and police officers in a neutral setting. Participants were broken into
groups of nine or 10 community members, one police officer and two neutral facilitators.
Syeed -Miller said the dialogue, which lasted from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. , enabled each party the opportunity to see the other's point of view. "It was definitely productive," she said.
Pastor Curtis May, director of the ministry for the Worldwide Church of God and one of the
organizers
of dialogue, agreed. "People felt that they had been heard," May said. He said that
though the
dialogues remained civil, they were brutally candid. "People expressed themselves
intently and honestly," May said. He said part of the dialogues touched on the uneasiness and
fear that African Americans and Hispanics often feel when they see a police patrol car behind
them, whether they've done something wrong or not.
He said Melekian openly apologized to the community members for any injustices they may have suffered at the hands of law enforcement and that he wanted to start with a clean slate. "Our goal
is removing walls and building bridges," May said. He said another goal was to put a human face
on the police department. May said two sheriff deputies, one black and one Caucasian, from Los Angeles told of their experiences on the job.
Pasadena officers also gave citizens an opportunity
to go through a firearm simulation exercise to show them the split-second, life-threatening
decisions officers have to make. And May, who is black, told the audience about his own
experience when he was wrongly pulled over at gunpoint by police officers.
Another dialogue is planned for Oct. 29, and it will focus on youth and police issues. Syeed -Miller
said that the Pasadena Police Department has committed to holding the dialogues quarterly.
Judge Dorothy Nelson, chair of the Western Justice Center Foundation, is ebullient about the Community/Police Mediation and Dialogue Program. "I think it is absolutely one of the most
important programs that we have ever undertaken," Nelson said. "And it could be important for the nation as a whole because I think we're creating a model that might well be adopted in other communities."
Nelson pointed to the first community dialogue session as an example of the effectiveness of the program. She recalled Melekian sitting at a table with a group of Hispanics. "As a result, he found Hispanics have specific police problems," Nelson said. "And he has already set up an Hispanic advisory committee. That is a tangible result of what's happening."
Melekian said he hopes the individual mediations will be equally productive. "These mediations would allow the officer and the complainant to meet face-to-face with two mediators facilitating the dispute," he said.
Deborah Thomas, associate executive director of Dispute Resolution Services, said that they will employ the same model as the post office in individual mediations. She said that all mediations
are voluntary. And she added that the complainant still has a right to pursue the complaint after the mediation. She said the following complaints would be considered for mediation: procedure,
service, courtesy and tactics. Force, arrest, slurs and criminal conduct would not be considered
for mediation. The mediations would last approximately three hours.
Thomas said the mediations are about communication and people connecting outside of their
roles. "It allows both parties to look at each other as human beings," she said. "It digs out all
the gunk and gets to the person."
By Kenneth Davis Daily Journal Staff Writer
Contact: Najeeba Syeed-Miller, Western Justice Center Foundation
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