Police line streets of Benton Harbor after nights of riots
Residents outraged by deadly police chase
Wednesday, June 18, 2003 Posted: 8:57 PM EDT (0057 GMT)
State and local police make their presence felt Wednesday in Benton Harbor, Michigan.
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Bullets, fire and rage on the streets of Benton Harbor, Michigan. WSBT reporter Jennifer Kuk is on the scene (June 18)
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BENTON HARBOR, Michigan (CNN) -- As many as 300 officers from the Michigan State Police and surrounding jurisdictions moved onto the streets of this economically depressed small town Wednesday, hoping to prevent more violence after two nights of rioting triggered by the death of a black motorcyclist fleeing white officers in a high-speed chase.
The city has declared a state of emergency and imposed a 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for children under the age of 16. Adults going to and from work are not affected by the curfew.
The rain that began Wednesday evening may also discourage people from gathering outside.
Benton Harbor Mayor Charles Yarbrough urged residents to stay home.
"The burning must stop, the rocks must stop, people must stop being hurt," Yarbrough said after Tuesday's violent protests left five homes burned and at least 10 people injured.
Police used tear gas to break up a crowd of about 300 people early Wednesday. Some of the protestors shot at police, and as many as 12 people were arrested, mostly on charges of civil disturbance and vandalism, Yarbrough said.
"It was very violent," Benton Harbor Police Chief Sam Harris said. "We had gunfire. They shot at our trucks, they shot at the captain of police, ran barricades."
The violence followed the death Monday night of a black motorcyclist in a high-speed chase by white police officers from nearby Benton Township. The motorcyclist, 28-year-old Terrance Shurn, of Benton Harbor, was killed when he crashed into a vacant building in a neighborhood near the city's center.
City Manager Joe Patterson said the Michigan State Police are investigating the incident.
Wednesday afternoon, police officers from several different jurisdictions began arriving in Benton Harbor. Some carried riot gear, and several reinforced vans called "peacekeepers" were parked downtown. The bullet-proof vans help protect officers from gunshots, rocks and bottles.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm said about 130 state police officers are assisting local law enforcement, but she urged local leaders to come together to restore calm.
The Baltimore City police have faced a myriad of problems in the last year. The riots following the Freddie Gray arrest were reported around the country and created a situation where the Governor was forced to call in the National Guard to protect the city. Community leaders report that African American’s are stopped, searched and arrested at a far greater number than Caucasian’s. The Baltimore city police are at an impasse with the community at this time, it is up to the city leaders and the police officials to come up with some real solutions to the issues that can no longer be ignored.
Stetser, Merle (2001). The Use of Force in Police Control of Violence: Incidents Resulting in Assaults on Officers. New York: LFB Scholarly Publishing L.L.C.
On the morning of October 3, four people were shot within a span of approximately 2 hours in Aspen Hill, and other nearby areas in Montgomery County. Another was killed that evening in the District of Columbia, just over the border of Silver Spring. In each shooting, the victims were killed by a single bullet fired from some distance. The pattern was not detected until after the shootings occurred on October 3. Fear quickly spread throughout the community as news of the shootings circulated. Many parents went to pick up their children at school early, not allowing them to take a school bus or walk home alone. Montgomery County and District of Columbia schools declared a lockdown, wit...
According to Kelling, Pate, Dieckman, & Brown (1974), patrol is the “backbone” of police work. This belief is based around the premise that the mere presence of police officers on patrol prohibits criminal activity. Despite increasing budgets and the availability of more officers on the streets, crime rates still rose with the expanding metropolitan populations (Kelling et al., 1974). A one year experiment to determine the effectiveness of routine preventive patrol would be conducted, beginning on the first day of October 1972, and ending on the last day of September 1973.
One of the core roles of police officers is that of law enforcement. However, there are times that it is necessary for an officer to rely less on enforcement of the law and instead concentrate on keeping peace in situations that exist outside of the norm. One such situation exists in the policing methods used in “skid-row” type areas of society. These types of areas are an anomaly to the rest of standard communities where simply enforcing the law will not be successful. The goal in these areas is to plainly contain the chaos using a hybrid form of community policing.
Piza, Eric L., and Brian A. O’Hara. 2012. “Saturation Foot-Patrol in a High-Violence Area: A Quasi-Experimental Evaluation.” Justice Quarterly 1–26.
There has been controversy in the world about police brutality and whether police have used excessive force to apprehend a subject is increasing. Police brutality has been around for a long time, but it just now televised. In the late 19th century, the issue of police brutality was often tied to business owners’ efforts to break up strikes by workers attempting to organize and form labor unions, also on a day known as Bloody Sunday where a group of peaceful protesters were literally beaten to the ground, sprayed with tear gas, and water hose by the police (“Police Brutality”). Even in 2015 in Baltimore Freddie Gray, 25-year-old African-American male, died while in police custody due to injuries in the spine and in some parts of Baltimore the
I saw the individuals using their cellular telephones to record the incident. The individuals were also yelling and using incoherent profanity toward Officer Harrell and I. Davis actions were exciting the crowd in violation of PC 404.6(a)-Incite crowd to commit acts of force or violence.
Kerley K. and Benson M. (2000). Does Community- Oriented Policing Help Build Stronger Communities? Police Quarterly: 3 (1)
Unfortunately, the violence did not stop there, as just later that night, during the early morning on February 8, also around 2 A.M, a shooter fired at a squad car that was parked only a mile away from where Mosby’s truck was parked. Thankfully, no officers were harmed. That shooter has yet to be caught and police are asking for information in this case as
...y been an explosion of young people, foreigners, and people who simply subscribe to a lifestyle completely different from what a traditional American was considered to be. Policing has come a long way. As Fyfe points out, extralegal violence has become almost completely eradicated. (Fyfe article) This shows that departments have accepted the huge array of different lifestyle. Yet, the existence of violence due to misunderstanding shows that they do not yet understand it. With enough education, including the education of citizens, there can be an understanding produced that will alleviate many of the situations which now arise from miscommunication between the police and citizens.
shootings. “During the first week of September, police killed more civilians than the total number
Today in 2015, community policing is as relevant as it has ever been in the history of America policing as many law enforcement agencies across the country continue to try and build stronger relationships, and establish partnerships between police officers and the communities they serve, especially minority communities. Since the 1990’s and early 2000’s many police agencies have come to accept the concepts of community oriented policing, and have made great strides towards better community-police relations. Many departments now meet regularly with neighborhood groups, allow citizens to participate in citizen police academies, conduct forums to give citizens a better understanding of the duties of police officers and their actions. Some police departments require and encourage officer to get out of their patrol vehicle and initiate positive contact with the people on their beats (Shusta, Levine, Wong, Olson, & Harris, 2011). All of these efforts are important and relevant to community policing, which helps to remove and diminish negative images of police officers. Citizens are more willing to work hand in hand with police officers who are approachable, engaged, and take ownership in the neighborhoods they serve, which is what community policing is all
To conclude, Community policing represents a major development in the history of American law enforcement, but the extent to which this approach is a success and dominates contemporary policing remains a source of debate. In my point of view, community policing is good for communities. It has challenged the traditional concept of the police as crime-fighters by drawing attention to the complexities of the police role and function. In addition to the police officer hard work; citizens can also make a difference and contribute to make neighborhoods a better place to live. For instance, citizens can hold community meetings to talk about concerns and agree on solutions help organize healthy activities for children in your neighborhood, join or starting a neighborhood crime watch program, and talk to your community police officers and share information and concerns.
(Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem Solving.") At the same time, aggressive patrol tactics adopted in response to rising crime and civil disobedience increased the likelihood of hostile confrontations between police and citizens and contributed to increasing complaints against the police (Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem Solving.") The community policing literature strongly suggests that community policing could improve communication and trust between police and citizens, reverse the growing distance and isolation of the police from the public, and reduce citizen complaints of brutality and indifference (Berlin, Michael M. "Encyclopedia of Community Policing and Problem