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Why Police-Community Relations Are In A Bad Place
Protests against police brutality, allegations of excessive force during those demonstrations, and the recent ambush of two Sheriff's deputies have combined to bring relations between law enforcement and some communities to a low point.
“People are chanting that they want to know where my kids go to school and where my parents go to church,” said Sheriff’s Capt. Duane Allen, Jr., a 32-year veteran and head of the South L.A. station. “I’ve never seen this before … it’s hostile.”
Pastor Michael Fisher of Greater Zion Church in Compton has worked for years to improve relations with the Sheriff’s Department. Videos of recent killings by law enforcement, along with reports of a deputy gang dominating the Compton station, have rattled Fisher.
"We were under the impression that things were in fact getting better," he said. Now, “it's as if the masks have come off, that this entire time, we were working with racists,” Fisher said, who’s quick to say he doesn't believe all deputies are racist. After all, two of his nieces work for the department.
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