Use Ferguson as springboard to mend police-community ties

Rioting and disturbances ROCKED Ferguson, Mo., and the nation this week after a grand jury decided not to indict a white police officer who shot and killed an unarmed black teenager last summer. The lawless protests, however, should neither be read as the closing chapter on this controversial case nor the last word on the need to narrow the racial divide in police-community relations in Ferguson and throughout this country.

Nonetheless, residents of Ferguson, St. Louis County and the nation should accept the grand jury’s report with respect for the 12 jurors for their toil in examining reams of evidence and then applying the rules of law in recommending that Officer Darren Wilson not be charged criminally for his actions last Aug. 9. After all, that’s how democracy works in the criminal justice system of America.

Clearly, rioting in the streets, burning businesses to ashes and throwing rocks, bottles and other projectiles at police and national guard hardly serve as respectful or productive responses. Those and other acts of lawlessness in Ferguson and on other streets across America — including the blocking of busy interchanges in Cleveland and Akron — detract attention from the specific case in Ferguson and drown out constructive conversations on improving race relations throughout the United States.

Nonetheless, those who disagree with the decision should recognize that the grand jury ruling does not close the book entirely on this case. Nor should it.

A U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the shooting and of police practices in Ferguson led by Attorney General Eric Holder continues. And though many legal analysts doubt that it will result in an indictment against Wilson, many hope that it can produce recommendations that, if implemented, could lessen the chances that similar tragedies will recur.

To be sure, many legitimate questions remain surrounding the way in which the Ferguson police and prosecutor’s office handled this hot-button case. Why did it take so long for police to release Officer Darren Wilson’s name to the public last summer? Why was an independent prosecutor not appointed to handle the case to lessen chances of charges of favoritism in building the case? Why did the St. Louis County prosecutor wait until 9 p.m. Monday to announce the decision, knowing full well that it likely would unleash an immediate and virulent response made all the more difficult to control by the cloak of darkness?

BODY CAMS, TASERS FOR COPS

Perhaps, more importantly, the federal investigation and its resulting recommendations can provide a checklist of specific actions and procedures to significantly lessen patterns of tense and disrespectful police-community interactions in minority communities.

We’d urge federal investigators to consider, for example, mandating all police officers arm themselves with Tasers in addition to their firearms. Shocking uncooperative suspects into submission could prove far more humane and elicit far less outcry than using lethal force.

In addition, as the Ferguson case illustrates, the lack of clear documented evidence of confrontations enables multiple versions of events to spin wildly out of control. That’s why federal investigators ought also consider the value of requiring body cameras to supplement the uniforms of all U.S. law-enforcement officers.

In taking such a big-picture approach, the investigation also can make a meaningful contribution to the national conversation on improving race relations and police-community bonds. In the end, understanding should supplant anger.

As the Rev. Lewis Macklin of Holy Trinity Missionary Baptist Church in Youngstown, aptly puts it: “It’s OK to be angry, but people need to channel their responses better. Ferguson, Mo., missed a wonderful opportunity for peace this week — and Brown’s family consistently asked for peace — so I think this was a lesson taught and a lesson learned.”

Let that be the first of many constructive lessons to be learned from the fallout of the human tragedy in Ferguson.