SARASOTA, Fla. -Two weekends of protests by Black Lives Matter have some questioning the stability of the African-American community’s relationship with police.
Tensions flared following the March 22 arrest of Chad Washington on a felony warrant. Washington was high on drugs when he punched and bit an officer, Sarasota police said.
His arrest resulted in protests by black activist groups for the consecutive weekends.
“Our voices are being heard and as long as our voices are being heard a difference is being made,” says Greg Cruz with Black Lives Matters and Answer Suncoast.
Cruz says the relationship between the black community and the Sarasota Police Department today is “non-existent.”
“I say the biggest problem is the lack of transparency," he said. "They’re more apt to come into our neighborhoods and police us more aggressively.”
Community members seek accountability from police, Cruz said.
“We’d like others on the police force be reflective of our community…hire more minority officers,” he said.
Working with police
One of the biggest issues in working with police is chief Bernadette DiPino, Cruz said.
“We can’t work with her, we’ve tried," he said. "What she does is try to silence us.”
DiPino was not available for comment, but in response, deputy chief Pat Robinson highlighted the department's "Blue and You" campaign.
“The police department’s message is we are in this for the long haul," he said. "We want to make sure our relationship with all community members is strong and trusting. The number of things we do with the Blue and You campaign they take time. But just engaging the community on a one on one level in everyday policing daily ongoing effort from all officers in that community.”
One community event - a movie night - was canceled due to public safety concerns when the department learned of another protest.
Cruz takes what police say with ‘a grain of salt.’
“We need to start over in this town," he said. "The people in power don’t have the best interest of everybody in the community at heart. Until that’s figured out there will always be a problem in Sarasota.”
Robinson responded with a message of unity.
“We are committed to this community and being a positive part of this community," he said.
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