By David Gordon, associate editor
“We have the power to make changes but the question is, do we have the will?”
That was Eau Claire City Manager Dale Peters’ closing statement during Sunday’s two-hour virtual vigil and community discussion in remembrance of George Floyd, who died on Monday in Minneapolis while pinned for close to 10 minutes under the knee of a white policeman.
The event, organized by Uniting Bridges and co-sponsored by UW-Eau Claire’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Student Affairs Division and UW-EC Anti-Racist Faculty and Staff, was intended to demonstrate community support in honor of Floyd’s memory and to seek justice for him.
Nine different speakers addressed the online audience, including Peters, Eau Claire Police Chief Matt Rokus, UW-EC Chancellor James Schmidt and State Rep. Jodi Emerson. Participation figures on the Zoom site showed more than 350 people in virtual attendance through much of the event’s first hour and close to 200 still involved when it ended.
Selika Ducksworth-Lawton, a UW-EC history professor and lead organizer of the event, said that there were 380 unique participants on Zoom and more than 100 more on other platforms. She told the CVPost that more people wanted to speak than could be accommodated in the half hour set aside for questions and comments and said she hoped they would take part in the virtual Juneteenth celebration planned for June 19.
Peters acknowledged that there is work to be done in Eau Claire and “now is the time” for both self-reflection and “constructive action.” What’s needed are “actions that change the systems and culture that allowed the tragic death of George Floyd to happen,” he said.
Mai Xiong, elected to the Eau Claire City Council in April, thanked the organizers “for forcing such a much-needed discussion” but cautioned that it will take much more to recover from Floyd’s death and the fires that have burned parts of the Twin Cities. She said that “our real enemy right now” is the system that allows people of color to die unjustly.
“This system doesn’t impact only the black community” but the Asian community as well, she said. “(We) must work together and demand justice for all the people who have lost their lives” because of systemic injustice.
Emily Berge, a fellow City Council member, said she wanted to address the white community in asking what can be done about the country’s problem with racism.
“White privilege doesn’t mean you don’t have challenges, but your skin color isn’t one of (them),” she said. Making changes is hard and uncomfortable work, she added, “but if it saves a life, it’s worth it.”
Police Chief’s comments
Rokus told the group he welcomed the opportunity to listen and said that Sunday’s conversation needs to be continued. He asked for continuing public input and collaboration with the police department “to help us be the best that we can be.
He said the department’s training efforts aim to prevent situations like the one that led to Floyd’s death but, if problems do occur, “we need to know about it” in order to deal with it. The department also needs to “understand how our actions are perceived by the community” even when they are totally appropriate, he said, adding that “I am committed to dealing with it.”
Rokus outlined four steps the department takes to prevent abusive situations:
- “hire the right people,” with oversight from the city’s Police and Fire Commission. Among the qualifications he said he looks for are “ethical qualities” and communication skills.
- “making certain our officers are properly trained,” an effort that includes in-service training in addition to that received via the police academy.
- accountability and transparency in regard to police behavior.
- rigorous internal reviews of any use of deadly force by an officer.
Rokus said citizen complaints about police behavior go directly to the Police and Fire Commission (of which Ducksworth-Lawton is a member) and are thoroughly investigated.
‘meet. . . listen’
“We meet with them (people filing complaints), we listen” and try to understand them and their issues, he said.
In answer to another question, Rokus said the department is working toward the goal of equipping every officer with a body camera but noted that this would double footage beyond what is currently available from cameras mounted in squad cars. This would require additional staff to process the material which, in turn, will require additional budget support from the City Council, he said.
Berge and City Council member Catherine Emmanuelle agreed that complete implementation of this goal is still several years away, although the Council and city staff are working together to reach it.
Rokus said his officers are given de-escalation and crisis intervention training and these skills are considered core competencies for Eau Claire police. He added that school resource officers receive specialized training in cooperation with the Eau Claire Area School District and that this training was updated several years ago.
Other remarks
Schmidt said UW-EC will begin to provide sensitivity training for the Eau Claire police department, starting this coming fall. He noted that the university has taken many steps but more are needed to reach its goals of equity, diversity and inclusion.
“We need to serve as a safe haven. . . where every voice can be heard,” he said.
Schmidt, as did several other speakers, noted the violence wracking the Twin Cities and referred to it as “the language of the unheard.”
Emerson listed a number of everyday activities that she – as a white middle class person – can do without fear and said the same list isn’t available to people of color. Mentioning Floyd and others who have died at the hands of police, she said “we must speak up, we must demand change because they can’t any more.”
Emerson added: “We need to rise up and change our system, change our country. . . We are better than this.”
Susie Draeger, an Eau Claire resident who met Floyd while she lived in Minneapolis and frequented the salsa club where he worked in security, said he was always concerned about keeping the club’s patrons safe at the end of the night.
“He always had my back,” she said. “Let’s listen, let’s heal, let’s have each other’s backs.”
Another perspective
Sandra McKinney, JONAH’s president and a participant in the Sunday event, commented afterward that it was “a vehicle to begin our own inner journey into examining our own implicit bias and racism.
“In scrolling through those present, I was struck with the representation of all ages and the number of community leaders–both speakers and audience.”
She noted that, before the online event, “I watched hundreds march from Phoenix Park to Owen Park and then hold a peaceful protest. Today’s events tell me this community really does care about what happened to George Floyd and to the many other human beings whose lives have been shortened by police brutality.”
The event was moderated by Ed Hudgins of Converge Radio, which also recorded it and will broadcast various portions of it in the coming days. He concluded the program with the hope that the “important words” spoken during the afternoon became more than catch phrases, “because lives are at stake.”