Reporter
Quiet chatter could be heard throughout the room as a pool of diverse community members patiently waited to begin the meeting addressing relations between the justice system and the Kern community.
A panel of four Bakersfield community representatives sat and answered questions posed from the audience and mediator Christopher Meyers Thursday, April 21 in the Housing Multi-Purpose Room at CSU Bakersfield.
The event was put on by the Kegley Institute of Ethics and was a follow up to Tracy Martin’s visit to CSUB on April 14.
The panel consisted of Bakersfield Police Department Chief of Police Greg Williamson, sociologist Rhonda Dugan, professor Marcus Smith and Executive Director of New Life Center Danny Morrison.
A representative from the Sheriff’s department was contacted, but there was no response.
Each representative had a focus for this meeting that related to improving relations between the justice system and the community.
Dugan was the first speaker discussing the cause of crime in Bakersfield.
“The one significant factor in this community relates to economics,” said Dugan. “The poverty rate in the U.S. is 15.5 percent but nearly 20 percent in Bakersfield. There needs to be more focus on educating children much earlier than high school.”
The next speaker was Morrison who addressed blunt honesty from both sides.
“The theme of this meeting is transparency,” said Morrison.
He said the best way he felt the community and the police would be able to come to terms were with honesty by the justice system and the community.
“If you would just say we made a mistake, you don’t know how much that alone would change the way the police are viewed,” said Morrison.
Smith spoke of the importance of building a community that interacts with one another.
“Get out of the vehicle and meet the community members,” said Smith. “There are programs like Cooking with Cops and Coffee with Cops that are [meant] to better relations with community members.We need to work on changing the police policy. Community members feel like their voices don’t get heard.”
The last speaker was Williamson who spoke of relations beyond the police department alone.
“We have had good relations with the community,” said Williamson. “Are we happy about shooting people? No, but we have guns for a reason. We need to look at the entire justice system and not just the police department.”
After each speaker had a chance to respond to the questions proposed by the mediator, questions were opened to the audience.
Many community members stood and asked questions they felt needed answers.
“How are we to have positive role models if the role models we have are being harassed or beaten in the streets?”
This question was directed toward Williamson.
“I’m not familiar with that happening,” was Williamson’s response.
Morrison commented saying, “It’s not the role models. We have positive role models. If we want to clean up our streets, we have to snitch on each other.”
After the audience questions the panel were allowed their final comments of the night.
Morrison continued to stress the importance of honesty.
“Transparency is the word of the day,” Morrison said.
Smith further pushed for community involvement.
“Get involved, get active in the community,” said Smith
Dugan addressed the need for respect from both sides.
“A level of respect from all walks of life is needed,” Dugan said.
Williamson thanked the community for supporting and informed the crowd of an upcoming meeting on Tuesday May 10 at CSUB. “Come out and support,” said Williamson.
The meeting ended with a weary applause from the crowd.
“It left a lot to be desired, I wanted to hear more about the black community in Bakersfield.” said Entrepreneur, Carrie Sanders, 43. “How is the event called After Trayvon if nothing was said about him.”
Some community members felt the event was very informative and were impressed with the honesty conveyed throughout the meeting.
“I think it went very well,” said community relations specialist Edwina Tripp, 55. “I think Chief Williamson was very transparent with the questions that were asked.”
Morrison stayed after the meeting to answer questions and talk to audience members.
“Keep the temperatures low and the intellects high and we can make a change,” said Morrison.
