With what crime and policing is like in your community. If you live in an urban area, dial in at host you can also join the conversation via twitter, facebook or sent us an email. Phone lines are open. We want to know what crime and policing is like in your community and what sort of reforms, if any, you want to see. Heres the Baltimore Sun this morning front page courtesy of them. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings blake asked ooh fullscale civil rights investigation into the practices of the Baltimore Police department it would exam Excessive Force discriminatory harassment and false arrests and unlayoffal unlawful actions. Justice Department Said they received it. This is after Loretta Lynch the attorney general went to baltimore and met with the mayor and other officials in that community and now the mayor asking for a full probe of the citys police. This after a jack young and 10 members of the city county critical asked for a fullscale investigation. All are democrats. Robert is up first in chestnut hill, massachusetts. Robert we are talking about crime and policing in your area. Whats it like . Caller can you hear me . Host yes, good morning. Caller yes, well, you know, i guess in light of what has been happening in the last several months whether it be in new york missouri, st. Louis, baltimore. In my neighborhood, its a suburban area, and the police know you. And its rather homo genius. And i think that this country has a lot of work to do. Race relations and perceptions of Law Enforcement on both ends. And theres so much distrust, and all i can think about, because i know its history. All i can think about is that there are africanamericans in urban and rural areas throughout the United States that are old enough to remember conner and the fire hoses and the dogs and we now have an africanamerican presence, and these things still persist. So in my area massachusetts, a very liberal area, but that does not affect the police. Unfortunately, i hate to say this. Im a liberal person. I dont trust the police. I happen to be caucasian. Its not about me. Its not 100 about race. I think there needs to be sensitivety training, quite frankly, and there needs to be trust regained with Law Enforcement and the general pop will you explain. Host robert, you said in your area the police know the community and you know the police but yet you dont trust them . Caller well, its not i do trust them. I live in newton, massachusetts. I do trust the police. Ive been in other areas, similar areas demographically. My impression is that see, this is why i say its not a racial thing, surely. If one marches to the beat of his or her own drummer and a policeman see someone out of the ordinary, they grill you and they grill you and they grill you as though there is a serious crime. Let me just end on this note. Host ok. Caller im sure many cspan viewers remember when david rosin balm, the late reporter of the New York Times was left to die. It was a maybe its a matter of funding, maybe its a matter of incompetence but the Community Needs to understand the police and its not even about rosin balm was a reporter for the New York Times but the police figured im sure the police in washington are you know, overworked and they probably figure host so its about resources on one end and improving policing. Randy in fort worth texas, a rural area. Whats it like in your area . Caller thank you for taking my call. Its pretty peaceful here in fort worth. I moved here from baltimore in 2005. You know to get away from the anarchy. Basically, i stand behind the police 100 . I believe the criminals should be reformed not the police. Because you have a situation in baltimore where the mayor and the prosecutors and some of the councilmembers are totally left behind or they dont realize the damage they are causing by stralsing the Police Department in baltimore because what youre going to have is a Police Department thats going to be slow to respond because they are afraid host when you say federalizing the Baltimore Police department, youre saying because of this call from the mayor or for the Justice Department to do a review, theres no federalizing of the Police Department but you see it as that because she is calling for a review . Caller yes. When you take a look at ferguson missouri they forgot about ferguson and the Michael Brown situation, the chief of Police Stepped down. Another one came in and brought in his new chief of police and the crime is worse there now. The police, they cant hire any decent Police Officers and maryland is taking a page out of ferguson so in maryland youre going to have a higher crime rate and the black people is going to have less protection and the businesses. Host the Washington TimesEditorial Board is weighing in on what they call the war on the police. The Police Misconduct is real but exaggeration makes it worse and go on to say the problem is not fundamentally about money. There should be no assumption that enlarging the Police Department is the solution. Minorities already account for one in four policemen a larger percentage than the population. Some say federalization of the Police Department no proposal is more bereft of common sense. It is the relationship of the police to their local environment which is the most important part of the efficient functioning of Police Departments. And if the war on police is not stopped by the erosion of the peacekeeping apparatus and the system of justice will guarantee disaster for every member of society. Thats the Washington TimesEditorial Board review. Were getting your take on crime and policing in your community. Whats it like and do you think theres any changes that are needed . Jay in pennsylvania. Go ahead, jay. How are you . Host good morning, jay. Youre on the air. Caller the first person who mentioned ho knowledge nating, even though we continue to say this incrediblyor wellian mantra encourages our strength, when i grew up in a small pennsylvania dutch rural area, we had 3035 kids in a classroom. We had no money. Everybody lived in a rural house. Everybody had five brothers our fathers were either roofers or fork lift drivers or Small Business owners and we had a good education because there was a cultural faction and fear of authority engrained in our pennsylvaniain egerman culture. This is about race not money. And thats what we are never going to understand because through two generations of anthropology we have come to believe we are all interchangeable and we are not. The race and culture of a neighborhood matters and thats the words of a study people not just like me but look at Robert Putnam the harvard professor. He did that indepth study and he was a liberal and the author of a book about bowling alone and didnt like what he found and was forced to reveal it and studied tens of thousands one of the major casualties of diversity is loss of trust. It causes people to pull in like turtles and isolate themselves. At least we should recognize that and stop promoting this insane idea of diversity to strength when its torn apart civilizations throughout recent history. Host youre on the air from baltimore. Caller good morning. Host good morning. Caller my thing is, a lot of Police Officers come to the Police Department with baggage. Ive seen it. I mean the police have been front line for a long time in our disputes and eh. So we have an opinion of our police thats already been formed. Ive seen it in the military, a lot of people that have come there with their own perceptions about black people and things like that and its not good. But you know the problem in baltimore. It is the Police Department, but a lot of these young people need jobs. And i applaud places like am adone and places that have located in Baltimore City and have given jobs to people. We dont want any handouts. All we want is a handup with jobs i implore people, if you buy products. We buy cars. Make them i mean, get something for your money. Make them locate in Baltimore City. Get some jobs here. Thats what we need. Host all right robert from davenport, iowa. Whats policing like in your community . Caller this is a rural area. Maybe four percent are black 2 mexican so not a lot of minorities. Years back me and others from the naacp started to investigate when there was a lot of hassles with minorities being hassled by the police and we would immediately go to the people who investigate that. As a result the police would come back and say, you shouldnt do this to us, because if we go into a crime situation we might not act because we think about what youre doing to us. But that didnt happen. I dont see things around here that i see in other cities. What i would say for a solution however is they are supposed to be protecting and serving the people of the community. What needs to happen in is in all the cities they dont needy versety training they need a percentage the people with the most comp plaints need to find job somewhere else. Host all right robert. In a related article front page of the Washington Post, death by excited did here yum is being debated. Natasha mckennaal weighed 130 pounds but six policemen restrained her. They shackaled and wrestled the mentally ill woman before shocking her with a taser and she then stopped breathing and died. The taser and use of force were declared not the primary factors. Instead it was a rare and controversial syndrome cited in dozens of deaths across the country after struggles with Law Enforcement, excited delirium. Influenced by Mental Illness or stimulus such as stim lieutenants or cocaine and amphetamine. Those in its grip often have extraordinary strength are imperviousness to pain and act wildly or violently then suddenly some die. Other medical experts, civil libertarians have questioned the existence of excited delirium. We are getting a take on what its like as far as crime and policing in your community. Paul youre on the air. Caller good morning, thank you for taking my call. My general comment is, ive always had the utmost respect for the police. And in my city, there are billboards all over the place that who do you call when someone tpwhreaks your house . Thank a cop, ok . Which i have no problem with, but recently i was sitting on the main street waiting for a bus and two Police Officers were walking down the sidewalk and i got up and approached them and put my hand out to shake their hand thank them but the officer blew me off, and he was, like, no. Get away from me. Its a contra dicktive statement. Host so what do you think needs to be done. What do you think that attitude where does it come from . Caller well, i dont know, miss, because i called the Police Station and made a general comment about this and the dispatcher told me, well, the people they feel they have to be selfprotected. Well, i dont think i was presenting any kind of a threat whatsoever. I was just being kind and courteous and he just blew me off like i was nothing. You know . Host ok. Bobby from North Carolina in a rural area. Bobby, whats it like where you live . Caller its pretty rough where i live. I was arrested about two months ago for just saying the words, hey, dog, on the street. I had to go to jail and stay locked up for 12 hours. The judge threw it out and said he didnt know why they would be doing this. But we dont have this money to be paying bail bondsmen. I had to call a bail bondsman to get me out, so money being throwed away. They have no jobs. They are closing down all the street all the main street Martin Luther king boulevard is supposed to be one of your best streets. Potholes down there. They will build a fire house with a fire truck but then have three little black girls that get burned up in a house about half a mile from the fire station. Host ok. Ray in pennsylvania suburb of Cranberry Township . Hi, ray. Caller good morning. Host so whats it like where you live . Caller well, its a pretty affluent area north of pittsburgh. The problem is the police are they are militarized. Everything about them, if you watch any military action, they just totally militarize them and now they just got a bunch of dogs here. There might be three or four burglars a year and theres another township right north of here, they got four police dogs. Its just a whole middle tarization of the Police Departments nationwide. Its not its nationwide. Host ok. Caller they aral protectors youre the enemy. If youve ever been convicted of any crime to them, you are the enemy. Host and ray have you been convicted of a crime . Caller me . Host yes. Caller yes. Host so whats your experience been like . Caller injustice, you know . In this part of pennsylvania you know Pennsylvania Statewide 90 of your district judges are expolicemen. The police walk back in the chamber with their buddy who used to be a cop and its a racket. But the main thing is, they are pulling their guns. I was always taught you pull a gun, shoot it. When you pull a gun at somebody, shoot it. And they are always pulling their weapons out. Its just a middle tarization of the Police Department. Host ok. This is from the Washington Post this morning out of illinois. 5. 5 million payout over police torture. A 5. 5 million reparation package for the citys Notorious Police torture scandal that also promises to teach children about one of the darkest chapters in chicagos history. The city has already paid more than 100 million in legal settlements in Court Judgments and legal fees related to torture of suspects, most of them africanamerican from the 1970s through the early 1990s. We were just talking about the middle tarization of police. Take a look at this graphic. The United States is the worlds lead they are in incarceration with 2. 2 Million People currently in the nations prisons or jails and increase resulting in overcrowding and state governments being overwhelmed by the burden of funding the people departments incarceration not the most effective means of increasing Public Safety. We will be talking about reforms in the Justice System throughout morning and beginning with your phone calls what its like in your Community Crime and policing. First lots going up on capitol hill despite the house being out this week, the senate is in session. Theres a reliable source, the gossip section elton john a. K. A. Sir elton said dignified lobbyist but whose purple tint shadesal suggesting im still a glam rocker testifying alongside rick warren who is a Mega Church Pastor and whose flock is engaged in public initiatives around the globe. They were talking about the health of the public. Heres a little bit of that hearing. Mr. Chairman, this is the most powerful legislative body in the world, and this congress has the power to end aids. Tough power to maintain the historical commitment in leading the campaign against this disease. Im here today to ask you to use that power and seize this window of opportunity and change the course of history and one day soon i hope stoned my thanks to you this congress of the United States of america not only for fighting this disease but for ending it once and for all. Thank you. Host singer song writer elton john on capitol hill testifying yesterday. We covered it. If you missed it, go to cspan. Org, the topic there, global health. Also from the washington tinals, Mitch Mcconnell is pushing the patriot act deadline from phone records to snooping on phone lines hoping to end with a take it or leave it choice. With a june 1st deadline looming he said he is not going to debate the patriot act until the end of may leaving little time for the debate. Civil rights advocates say he is making a gamble that lawmakers will be so scared to let the powers laps all together that they would accept a complete extension then the Washington PostEditorial Board, they are weighing in on the moves of minority leader harry reid in the senate trickery in the trade and say harry reid will attempt to filibuster pending trade authority legislation. The bill made it out of the Senate Finance committee with 13 republicans and seven democrats voting for it. Now mr. Reid says the senate should take up a transportation bill and Foreign Surveillance act, the patriot act, and that he will try to muster a 41vote filibuster of the trade bill unless mr. Mcconnell agrees. Mr. Reed has half a point. Both of the bills will otherwise expire at the end of may and holding trade hostage to them wo