Graig Graziosi

The Republic | azcentral.com

A community forum Monday night addressed race issues and the police

Police officials said they want to be held accountable

The meeting was a civil counterpoint to recent protests

City and police officials were confronted by activists for the third time in three weeks Monday night, but rather than chanting and tear gas, the factions engaged in a civil discussion.

About 300 people joined the Rev. Reginald Walton, chairman of the Arizona Black Lives Matter campaign, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, Vice Mayor Kate Gallego, Phoenix police Assistant Chief Michael Kurtenbach, attorney Stephen Benedetto, Dr. Matthew Whitaker, activist Amanda Blackhorse, educator Clottee Hammons and Phoenix Law Enforcement Association President Ken Crane at a town hall Monday night to discuss race issues.

Walton moderated the discussion from a church pulpit, asking members of the public in the standing-room-only venue to write questions for the panel on note cards.

Questions were varied but largely centered on police and city officials recognizing and addressing institutional problems within law enforcement.

Kurtenbach asked that members of the public offer feedback more frequently — positive or negative — so the police can better address issues in their policing.

"We view Black Lives Matter as a partner that can hold us accountable. Let's be honest, everybody wants the police to be held accountable," Kurtenbach said. "If we do something wrong, tell us. If there's something we can do better, please, tell us. But if we do right, tell us."

Discussion follows protests

The meeting — held at Phillips Memorial Christian Methodist Episcopal Church — came after two consecutive weekends of protests in Phoenix led by activists opposing police brutality across the country. The protests were held after Philando Castile and Alton Sterling were killed by police officers earlier this month in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, respectively.

One town-hall attendee asked why Black Lives Matter supporters were so often the subject of criticism, but city officials never seemed willing to condemn members of law enforcement found to be corrupt or criminal.

Kurtenbach addressed the question, saying that the Phoenix police do not view Black Lives Matter as a terrorist organization but rather as a partner in accountability, much to the audience’s approval.

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The majority of questions from the crowd were centered on how the Phoenix police plan on addressing issues of bias within the police force, such as the subconscious way some individuals might treat people from different backgrounds.

While Phoenix police officers do go through 40 hours of cultural-engagement training, Stanton said that no city or police force is perfect. He then explained part of the issue involved the city having a difficult time recruiting a diverse range of applicants to become police officers. He challenged members of the public to join the police force to help introduce new perspectives into the force.

The discussion was organized and no arguments broke out during the question-and-answer session.

Engaging each other in a civil forum

Kendall Crever, 28, attended the discussion and said she was glad she had the chance to see the two sides of the discussion engage each other in a civil forum.

“I am super impressed that they brought in the two different sides," she said. "I think it’s really important if we are talking about coming together and making a better community, that includes both sides of the topic.”

At the conclusion of the discussion, Walton condemned individuals in the black community who refuse to give information to the police, calling it the “no snitch movement” and calling for its end.

A consultant and friend of Walton, Richard Crews, rounded out the discussion by asking attendees to determine what they have control over and challenging them to engage those issues before they focus on what they can’t control.

Attendee Ron Mack, 37, decided that the only way to influence his surroundings was to get more engaged in civil discussion.

“We can hopefully, not end this violence because we know that won’t happen, but it’s more about progressing," he said. "We just want it to get better.”

Two weeks ago, the Rev. Jarrett Maupin led a march of several hundred people through the streets of downtown Phoenix. The march was largely peaceful but ended after a tense standoff between Phoenix police and a group of protesters trying to shut down Interstate 10. Police eventually used pepper spray to break up the crowd.

The following week, Maupin again led a group of protesters, this time into the intersection of 24th Street and Camelback Road.

'We’ve got to come to the table': Phoenix police, activists address Baton Rouge shooting

The group of protesters gathered on a corner, then briefly blocked 24th Street.

When Phoenix police officers collected a 12-point plan from Maupin, the crowd left the street. At one point, Frances Garrett, the mother of Michelle Cusseaux, who was killed by police in August 2014, and a vocal activist against police brutality, hugged Phoenix Police Chief Joe Yahner.

At the same time, about 200 people marched to various spots in downtown Tempe to protest police brutality and as a show of solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The march was peaceful and ended after about 90 minutes.

Republic reporter Caitlin A. Tompkins contributed to this article.