Addressing Race
EDITORIAL

10:35 p.m. on Wednesday, August 8, 2007 on Broad Street was a perfect storm of command and communication meltdown, with a third of the police department showing up at an incident with no clue about why they were there. Once they arrived, all that they did know, it seems, is that the youthful bicyclists were black.

Police Chief William Pittman took the unusual step of issuing a public apology last week for the incident, chronicled in a 300-page document containing 40 pages of report and 260 pages of exhibits. The chief's accompanying two-page statement cited a laundry list of major changes needed within the Nantucket Police Department to address the causes of this systemic breakdown. The command structure needs to be revamped to provide better supervision for the officers. Trained and professional dispatchers are needed for the communications center. Written policies and procedures manuals are needed (with appropriate training, presumably) to guide officers in what their roles and responsibilities are. And a "fundamental change in the philosophy governing the engagement of the police with the community" is needed.

Both the report itself and the chief's written apology give scant mention to race, but the recommendation which ranked Number One in that report is telling: "1. All officers should receive diversity training and how the police are perceived by various demographic groups." The chief's statement indicates he "has also taken the step of engaging several members of our community who share a similar belief that the issue of race is one that requires an understanding of the perceptions of each other. And requires a committed engagement by not only the police but the community as a whole." We agree wholeheartedly.

Institutional racism happens. It happens when the fact of racism is not owned up to and addressed. It happens when a police department - or any organization - is not as diverse as the population it serves. Overcoming racism requires active engagement and participation. And it requires leadership. Let's follow Chief Pittman's lead and commit this community to addressing the issue of race.