In an interview with Boston Public Radio Monday, Police Commissioner Bill Evans said recent attacks against law enforcement in Baton Rouge and Dallas impede local police recruitment efforts and hurt morale. “Eight cops have been killed over the last ten days, and it’s making our job harder,” Evans said. “Who is going to want to come on this job now? I have three children, I don’t think I would want them to come on this job, given the animosity out there right now.”
According to state police, the man who fatally shot three police officers and wounded three others before being killed by police on Sunday in Baton Rouge was “targeting officers.”
This incident occurred just over a week after the killing of five police officers in Dallas, and nearly two weeks after the Baton Rouge police fatally shot Alton Sterling.
On their Facebook Page, Black Lives Matter leaders condemned the shootings in Baton Rouge and Dallas. "Black activists have raised the call for an end to violence, not an escalation of it,” the Black Lives Matter admins wrote. “Yesterday's attack was the result of the actions of a lone gunman. To assign the actions of one person to an entire movement is dangerous and irresponsible. We continue our efforts to bring about a better world for all of us.”
According to Evans, messaging from Black Lives Matter, the ACLU and from civil rights organizations can inspire hatred against police. “We continually hear from the ACLU groups that have always been, no matter what we do, they are anti-police,” Evans said. “That can be very harmful, it really can.”
On Wednesday night, Boston police escorted a peaceful protest organized by Mass Action Against Police Brutality. “We had a march here, last week, two thousand people, and they’re out there for the right reason,” Evans said. “We had no issues, but I think the dialogue has to be toned down. We can’t be divisive, we can’t be at each other’s throat, calling for cops, you know, ‘what do we want, we want dead cops’ —that’s not the message.”
Montrell Jackson, one of the three Baton Rouge officers killed on Sunday, posted a haunting message on Facebook on July 8. "I swear to God I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me,” he wrote. “In uniform, I get nasty hateful looks, and out of uniform some consider me a threat. I've experienced so much in my short life and these last 3 days have tested me to the core."
A survey released this month from theMassINC Polling Group and The Boston Foundation showed that nearly half of residents believe Boston faces the same issues as other cities when it comes to policing and minorities. Overall, 73 percent said they view police favorably, with a race-based split: 82 percent of white residents said they view the police positively, and only 65 percent of black residents said the same.
“For me, I think that’s pretty good, considering what’s been playing out,” Evans said. “We’re continually working, and I think we have great relationships here, and I think that poll showed that we’re doing well, but we continue to strive to get better, especially in minority communities.”
Striving to get better, according to Evans, requires some much-needed unconscious bias training. “We’re continually stressing, in the academy, about unconscious bias,” he said. “Years ago, did it happen more often than it does now? Absolutely. I think we’re out there, we’re bringing crime down in this city, and more importantly, we were down 16 percent arrests last year, this year, so far, 11. We’re working with these kids in the neighborhood, and we realize that locking them up isn’t the solution.”
To hear Police Commissioner Evans’ interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio link above.
