Leaders: Follow orders, avoid fight with police

The best way to avoid violent confrontations with law enforcement is mutual respect and complying with commands, police and local leaders agreed Saturday.

Education and respect were the main focus of a forum attended by El Paso leaders to discuss officers who use excessive force and the relationship between law enforcement and civilians.

El Paso Police Chief Greg Allen said the key to ending violent incidents between police and civilians is mutual respect. When officers make a command, it is in the best interest of all parties for the person being questioned to comply, he said.

“When an officer confronts someone and they make commands to that person or gives that person directives, the basic thing to do is comply with that officer’s commands,” Allen said during the seminar. “The street is no place to start arguing the merits of the law. That should take place in the courtroom.”

He added, “When a police officer confronts an individual, he doesn’t know what that person is going to do. If he tells a person to put his hands behind his back and that person fails to do so, what do you think is going to happen? Now the officer is going to have to physically make that person (comply).”

El Paso attorney Don Williams agreed with Allen and said the best place for people who feel their rights were violated is court.

“You have rights. I have rights, but sometimes you can be dead right,” Williams said. “Black lives matter less to some people and you have to know that. So when you have rights, but to keep yourself alive, you do not exercise those rights on the street of El Paso or anywhere else. You say, ‘Yes, sir’ and ‘No, sir,’ and then you come and hire me. My job is to keep you alive. ... Remember these two things: You have rights, but you can be dead right.”

The El Paso-Las Cruces Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc. and the El Paso Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. held a “Police Etiquette Seminar” at the Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel to discuss the national and often controversial issues. The groups traditionally focus on the African-American community.

The seminar was held in the wake of several police-involved shootings that sparked outrage and debate over the use of excessive force against African-Americans.

Some of the shootings that made national headlines included the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York City.

The speakers at the seminar included Allen, Williams, El Paso County District Attorney Jamie Esparza and League of United Latin American Citizens El Paso branch representative Ray Mancera.

Mancera agreed that respecting officers and not trying to take the law into your own hands are key in avoiding violent confrontations, although he said that the responsibility is not only on citizens but also on law enforcement officers.

“Law enforcement are human beings and are not perfect and I am sure every department tries to train their officers to understand what to do and what not to do, how to calm a situation down and not let it escalate like we have seen in other parts of the country,” Mancera said. “One of the solutions is to continue this dialog and educate. Educate the police forces on the rules and what they should do in certain situations and not let their emotions get in the way. That gun and that badge gives you a lot of power. On that same token, we have to continue to educate the citizen as well.”

Other speakers included University of Texas at El Paso Assistant Police Chief Ray Rodriguez, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People El Paso President Twymeni Purchase and officials from the Fort Bliss Military Police Battalion, El Paso Community College Police Department and the El Paso Independent School District.

During the question and answer portion, Allen addressed several questions about why most of the advice given at the seminar focused on citizens’ actions, but not on law enforcement’s actions.

Allen said that in order for change to come, it has to start at home.

“From my perspective, the problem is with people not having the proper upbringing, and I see it time and time again,” Allen said. “When I was a lieutenant in the Lower Valley and I was sitting at a desk, I hear the bell ring and I go out front and there is a 43-year-old man with his 7-year-old son and he tells me that, ‘He won’t listen,’ and I said, ‘What do you mean he won’t listen?’ He said ‘He won’t listen.’ I said, ‘Are you his father?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Well, whoop his behind.’ ”

He continued, “You know why I said that? Because if he doesn’t discipline that boy right now, being his father, what is he (the boy) going to be like when he is 14? What is he going to be like when he is 21 and hasn’t even followed the directions of his parents?”

While Allen admitted that no police department is 100 percent free from officers not performing their jobs to the highest standard, there is a system in place to identify and remove that person from the position, he said.

“Law enforcement has its share of people that shouldn’t be here, I will tell you that. We are all human,” Allen said. “And when we find them and they have done something improper, they are gone. One of the things I found is that if you hire improperly, if you look for people who just want to kick in doors and beat people up, so to speak, that is not a police officer.”

Aaron Martinez may be reached at 546-6249; aamartinez@elpasotimes.com; @AMartinez31 on Twitter.