Aurora – Residents upset over what they see as racial profiling and harassment spoke out Monday night at a forum designed to improve relations between police and the community.
“Unfortunately, a few (bad officers) make the whole spectrum look bad,” said resident Myron Wilson. He was one of more than 40 residents who attended the start of three days of forums Monday at the New Beginnings Cathedral of Worship.
The Rev. Larry Brown said he was on his way to the forum when he saw a black man sitting on a curb surrounded by at least five police cars.
“You talk about something that is embarrassing, intimidating,” Brown said. “It’s definitely a strained relationship.”
Police, however, said their actions are sometimes misunderstood.
“People nowadays do not want to accept responsibility for their actions,” said Officer Tony Cancino, adding that he judges people by how they respond to him. “It’s not because of the color of their skin.”
But residents called certain police actions unfair.
Connie Wint said her son got in trouble after staying late at school one day. On his way home, six police cars surrounded him because, she said police told her, “he fit the description” of a robbery suspect.
“He’s a young man who had never been in trouble, the student body president,” Wint said. “Since that time, he’s been traumatized.”
Police Chief Dan Oates said the forum was a painful but necessary step if the department is to improve its relationship with residents.
Officers “perceive themselves to be honorable and fair, and sometimes it’s hard to hear citizens perceive them differently,” he said. “It’s about what I expected, the dialogue, the divergence in opinion in the community.”
The forums, the first of their kind in the city, come after several high-profile incidents. An off-duty officer wrestled a disabled black woman and her daughter to the ground outside a grocery store, and a black man was fatally shot in the back during a prostitution sting.
After an initial greeting session, residents stayed in one room while about 25 officers went into another room to talk about how they each perceive one another.
Many of the residents were from the Aurora Ministerial Alliance, the city’s Key Community Response Team and the Human Relations Commission. Police hope those leaders will spread the word and bring both sides closer together.
The Rev. Jeff Clint said that in the seven years his family has lived in Aurora, six relatives have been pulled over, he believes, because they are black.
Police and residents later formed small groups and talked about ways to improve relationships.
They talked about things such as more transparency, building better trust and more community involvement.
“We’re going to disagree on some things, but as long as there is some measure of respect on both sides, we can probably work something out,” said Sgt. Paul O’Keefe.
Staff writer Carlos Illescas can be reached at 303-954-1175 or cillescas@denverpost.com.
