Local police, residents discuss how to avoid confrontations when picked up

YOUNGSTOWN

Mossco DuBose vividly recalled the morning several decades ago when he got pulled over while driving south on state Route 11 to pay a fine in Austintown.

“I reached into the glove compartment and I heard a click, and then I was looking down the barrel [of the officer’s gun],” he remembered.

The frightening encounter caught him off guard because the officer had no reason to draw his weapon, DuBose explained, adding that he received only a written warning for having a burned-out taillight.

DuBose said he understands that police officers have a difficult and risky job. Even so, they should not be overly aggressive toward the vast majority of people who have committed minor infractions or done nothing wrong, he continued.

Nevertheless, DuBose gained greater insight into such situations from the perspective of law enforcement, courtesy of having attended Tuesday’s seminar, “What to do When You’re Stopped by the Police,” at Metro Assembly of God, 2530 South Ave., on the South Side.

Ernie Brown, a Vindicator regional editor and columnist, moderated the 90-minute panel discussion. Sponsoring the gathering were the Community Initiative to Reduce Violence organization and the Alliance for Congregational Transformation Influencing Our Neighborhoods.

Panelists were Guy Burney, CIRV’s executive director; former Youngstown police Chief Jimmy Hughes; current Chief Robin Lees; and retired Detective Sgt. Delphine Baldwin-Casey.

The gathering’s main purpose was to take steps and develop strategies to improve the climate and relations between law enforcement and minority communities, in the wake of the Aug. 9 fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an 18-year-old unarmed black man, by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo.

Read more about the discussion in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.