Thomas MacMillan Photo
Abdussabur (center) at forum.
Is it “profiling”? Or is it saving black lives by going after the guns used in snuffing them out?
That question arose during a lively exchange at a recent “Don’t Shoot” forum on how to stop the violence that, among other effects, has claimed the lives of 34 New Haveners in 2011, most of them African-American.
And it raised the difficulty of reconciling two competing urgent sentiments in the black community: Opposition to racial profiling. And a demand for intense police action to help the community stop black-on-black violence.
That question could be relevant in 2012 as the city tries new approaches to getting guns off the street in the context of a retooled community policing program. In 2011, police took 170 guns off the street in the course of making arrests (not counting domestic violence cases of the recent gun buy-back), according to Lt. Jeff Hoffman of the Tactical Narcotics Unit.
The “Don’t Shoot” exchange involved Officer Shafiq Abdussabur, who is African-American, and members of the audience, skeptical of his claim that New Haven cops do not in general engage in racial profiling. Abdussabur’s remarks follow. (Read about the event here; click on the WTNH video at the bottom of this story to watch a portion of the panel discussion.)
“We don’t profile. [Audience calls out in disagreement.] But when you do police work you have a victim, and the victim in New Haven is a black male. Your perpetrator is a black. So I would ask you, if you’re going to stop the next person from shooting somebody, who would you focus on?
“The reality is that we could have the best police department in all the world just the way you wanted it . Y’all have input. The officer shows up, looks like themselves, talking nice, brings you a soda. But the reality is this: We can only police a community that allows us to police it.
“Juneboy [another panelist who pointed out that many guns originally come from the suburbs] is right. But you know what? By the time we make the motor vehicle stop, those guns have sold and passed [into New Haven].
“And guess what? It’s not done in the dark. It’s not done in a basement. It’s done in the street. With people watching. With people on their way to a corner store to buy a loosie. They’re passing by and they’re saying, ‘That’s not my business. I’m not getting involved. That’s not my problem.’
“You can walk by that car where drugs are being sold or a gun is being passed to somebody. You can send a text to somebody. You know what? If something’s going on your neighborhood and you don’t like the police and you don’t want to call the police. [Then] call a friend. Because you know what they’re going to do? They’re going to call the police.
“… But don’t walk by and then say in a conversation in the bar, the Cardinals, Bar 69, you sit over a beer and start about, ‘Yeah, them dudes have all those guns.’ That next gun, no matter how it got here, if aliens brought it here, if you don’t speak up and say something about at least that gun not being where it’s supposed to, that gun can take one of our family members.
“We’re burying our own family members. We’re not burying strangers, people.
“So yes, there’s accountability for me, for the chief, for the mayor. But there’s accountability for the person that does live at 52 Hazel St. or 105 Shelton Ave. or wherever you live that says, ‘You know what? I heard some gunshots in my backyard. Can the police come? I wish to remain anonymous.’ That’s the only way us working together is going to work …
“One of the drawkbacks that we have with folks on the corner and folks hanging around, is you have a lot of 13 and 14-year-olds and 15-year-olds, even when you talk to the parents, they say, ‘Get my son a job. He needs to be off the street.’ The kid he says, ‘Get me a job!’ The reality is, at 13 years old, you need to be in school! That’s your job. You don’t need to be making money to get anything. You’re supposed to be going to school. studying, getting your education so you are able to get a better job.
“If we’re raising our young black males to think at 13 or 14 the only way you’re going to stay out of trouble [is to have a job], we’re making them materialistic. All they’re doing is hunting for money. So when they’ve got to sit in Hillhouse all day with Kermit … [they say,] ‘That’s corny. That’s boring. Because I can get out here to make money so I can buy sneakers.’
“What are those sneakers going to do last you for a little bit? You need to be in school. I hear people talk about people getting out of jail and getting opportunities. Hello New Haven! We live in a global economy. A global economy. …”