Dr. Elenora Woods and the NAACP should be part of City Hall’s committee search for the next police chief.
They belong at that table.
To suggest that you can remove discussions of color and race from the selection process is a fantasy; the tip of the spear falls disproportionately on many black neighborhoods. Crime is high. Despair is high. Police interaction is high. But is trust? Is communication?
A police chief sets policies that can build relationships or evaporate them. Community policing and police integrity can be something real, not fluffy talk.
What type of police chief will follow Fred Fletcher, who is retiring this summer? Do we regress back to a heavy-handed, Jeff Sessions type of enforcer? Is this the end of the Violence Reduction Initiative?