Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support has been provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios at Lincoln Center in new york, alison stewart. Stewart good evening and thanks for joining us. Im alison stewart. Tonight as we absorb the horror of the attack in france, here in the United States we are still suffering after a period of incredible violence the killing of two African American men by Police Officers in minnesota and louisiana, and the shooting of Police Officers in dallas. Americans are pained, frightened, and dismayed over the longstanding racial issues that threaten all our safety. We are here tonight to dig deeper. Were going to hear from African American parents about the talk they have with their children about Law Enforcement, from Police Recruits who fear they might make a deadly mistake, from protesters and those who think protestors have gone too far. We know you are having this conversation in your living rooms, your churches, on the street and in schools. Join our conversation by using the hashtag americablackandbluepbs. Despite real pain and anger, it is not all about the shouting. We are here tonight to report and to explore how people across the country can find Common Ground. Tension between police and African Americans is not new. We decided to go to newark, new jersey, where 49 years ago this week, the city was engulfed in race riots touched off when a black taxi driver was pulled over and then beaten by white Police Officers. In the months that followed, protests and riots swept the country. Today, newark is still struggling and people are still protesting. This week we heard anger and fear expressed at a march. There were also signs of hope and progress. We asked michael hill, a correspondent for new jersey public television, to put the story in perspective. What do we want . Justice. Reporter a protest in newark against Police Brutality is nothing new. 49 years ago this week, new jerseys most populated city burned in rebellion. Martial law was imposed and indelibly stained this city, and those who lived through it as i did in newarks north ward as an eightyearold boy. I remember my mother repeatedly warning us not to look out the window for fear of being shot. But i managed to sneak a peek or two and when i looked out, i could see military vehicles and troops with big guns rolling down 4th street. Barbara king remembers the fear she had during the riots. She says little has changed. Were still dying. But thank god people are still struggling. Rich casale. Were here to assist. Reporter a few days after officers were killed in dallas, the Sheriffs Department put sharpshooters on rooftops along this protest route protecting lieutenant Richard Casale and other officers protecting the protesters. Police ensuring the free speech rights of demonstrators while their uniforms make them targets on the streets. I dont know if its fear, but its a heightened sense of your surroundings. Reporter lieutenant casale has no illusions about what police are up against. I can be very honest, people do have a distrust. Reporter police shot and killed 36yearold jerame reid in this graphic dash cam video of a 2014 traffic stop still under federal review. The killing has so hardened reids mother, this is what she says about the cops murdered in dallas. I have no feelings for those officers that got took out last week. Reporter the roots of the anger, the distrust and the exasperation in newark surfaced in july 2014 when the justice departments threeyear investigation found many newark Police Officers overreacted and routinely used excessive force. The department of justice concluded that 75 of the stops on the street had no constitutional basis. In the frontline documentary, policing the police, filmmakers rode along with newark officers and captured the nowdisbanded gang unit appearing to trample on ones man rights. You are not under arrest. What were your thoughts . Despicable. Thats what i could tell you. I could tell you that the majority of the men and women of the Newark Police department dont engage in that type of activity like that. I think that sometimes the mistakes or the wrongdoing becomes the norm. The way you all approached me, all i was doing was walking home. If you had just asked me, i would have said i was walking home. Do not stereotype, cause thats what you all did to me. It is not an anomaly. What we see are Police Officers who work under the pressure of quotas, who are inadequately trained on how to engage in a lawful stop, and who have a warrior mentality. Reporter in january, newarks mayor brought back the citys former Police Director and chief, anthony ambrose. Ambrose wants his 992 officers and new recruits trained to be friendlier and more engaging. But he says it will take time to put his reforms into action. Are the reforms taking place, the kind of reforms to make real change . The jurys still out on where we are when it comes to reforming the Newark Police department. Reporter in the 1960s, the a. C. L. U. Of new jersey called for the creation of a civilian Complaint Review board in newark. Now, for the first time in its 350 years, the city has one. Advocates consider it the strongest in the nation at least on paper with the authority to investigate misconduct complaints, subpoena officers and make sure discipline sticks. And its a review board that is led by a majority of people nominated by community and civil rights organizations. So, that is an incredibly positive step forward. I think we have nothing to hide. I think transparency is very good. Reporter but officers and their unions worry they could be secondguessed by civilians who have no understanding of the dangers and challenges of policing in a place like newark. We make decisions instantaneously. If you monday quarterback and you have an hour to digest it, what we did in half a second, may look unreasonably. Im not totally antipolice because if somebody break in my home, im a call the police. Reporter reverend bryant ali is one of seven Community Members sworn in to the civilian Complaint Review board. Its not a cureall, but its a start and its better than what we had before. Reporter Newark School teacher Brian Hohmann was one of several white marchers we met in the recent and mostly black protest. Hohmann believes in black lives matter because he says those lives are among the most vulnerable. He fears reforms can only go so far; fundamental change is needed. I dont think that Police Officers, inside their uniforms, inside their bodies, are racists themselves seeking to kill black people. But i do think theyre something about the role of Police Officers and the institution of policing that leads to racist killings. I want my kids to be aware of whats going on. Reporter we also met ashley parker. She came with her sixyearold son nysir and eightyearold daughter nevaeh. She says she lost three teenage friends to deadly encounters with Newark Police a decade ago, but she sees last weeks tragedies as a teachable moment for police and protesters. Do you think this will change any time soon, in your lifetime, in your sons lifetime . In my sons lifetime, yes. I feel like, in my sons lifetime, yes, i do. Stewart finding solutions is never easy. We asked newshour special correspondent chris bury to look for a place where change is happening. He reports now from minneapolis, just a few miles from where Philando Castile was shot and killed during a traffic stop. Reporter whatever the exact circumstances that led police to pull over Philando Castile a broken taillight or the officers suspicion he resembled a suspect in a robbery the anger here is fueled by a feeling that castile died a violent death during a routine police stop primarily because he was a black man. This makeshift memorial marks the spot where Philando Castile died at the hands of police. For castile, getting pulled over here in a suburb of st. Paul was not at all unusual. Court Records Show Police had stopped him more than 50 times since 2002 for misdemeanors including not having a drivers license and not wearing a seatbelt. Most of those petty offenses were eventually dismissed. Without that low level offense, Philando Castile would have never have been stopped. Reporter ron harris is working to reform local laws regulating low level offenses that he says are far more likely to be enforced against blacks than whites. A practice that harris says draws more African Americans deeper into the criminal justice system. Disproportionately, black and brown men are targeted for those offenses, and they are very rarely charged with the low level offense. They are actually charged with a higher offense. But the only way the police ever got to the higher offense was through the entry point of the low level offense. Reporter last june, mnneapolis repealed two misdemeanor laws enacted during the 19th century, that banned spitting and lurking, or hiding for the purpose of committing a crime. Nekima levypounds, who heads the Minneapolis Office of the n. A. A. C. P. , pushed for the change. We found that in most jurisdictions, lurking was unconstitutional and as a matter of fact, people couldnt even explain what lurking actually was. Someone standing at a bus stop could be considered lurking. Reporter the president of the minneapolis city council, barb johnson, worried about high crime in her district, cast the only vote against repealing the laws banning spitting and lurking. I am concerned that if we do away with penalties for this low level kind of crime, that people will feel unsafe and then leave my community. And i dont want to see that happen. Reporter but minneapolis city records show a clear Racial Disparity in police enforcement. For example, of the 392 people arrested for lurking between 2009 and 2014, 59 were African American. In minneapolis, blacks make up about 19 of the population. The a. C. L. U. , in a study of all low level crimes in the city, found African Americans were nearly nine times more likely to be arrested for such offenses than whites. The report highlighted all of the ways in which people of color in minneapolis are facing huge disparities when it comes to low level arrests. I think everybody knew there were racial disparities, but not the depth of the problem. Reporter the racial tension surrounding the enforcement of low level crimes like the police stop that led to the death of Philando Castile is part of a Larger National debate over policing. One philosophy, known as broken windows, calls for aggressive policing of small crimes to prevent larger disorder in the community. Lieutenant bob kroll, who heads the Minneapolis Police union, likens it to fishing. Little arrests lead to big arrests, and if you have cause to stop someone for the lurking crime and doing an investigatory stop, you may find out that they have warrants for their arrest, or you may find out that, upon closer look, they are wanted in a crime which has been occurring in an area you are policing and they match a description, and may warrant further questioning from investigators. Reporter but activists in minneapolis are pushing for a more tolerant approach. They say the repeal of ordinances against lurking and spitting is just the beginning. That the enforcement of other misdemeanors, such as public urination and aggressive panhandling, should also be scrapped. It does not actually benefit Public Safety to have such petty, low level offenses on the books and its a huge waste of taxpayer dollars and resources. Reporter the lingering unease in the twin cities is palpable. All week long, protestors gathered at the minnesota governors mansion. At the memorial along the road where Philando Castile died, two young women embraced in silence, paying their respects to a man who has now become another reminder of the racial divide that many believe is made wider by a disparity in the way police handle petty crime. I think of these officers now as other people that are forced to make a decision in protecting us. Im not taking anything away from the individuals who were shot because i dont know what was happening. But i have sympathy and empathy for the officers that were required to make a decision whether rightfully or wrong. If youve never been there, its kind of hard to say they were wrong. Stewart next you are going to hear two very different perspectives on police work and how two leaders in Law Enforcement feel about their work. First, Police LieutenantThomas Glover. He is a 35year veteran of the force and president of the black Police Association of greater dallas. Glover shared his story just two days after five of his fellow officers were shot and killed by a gunman, ending a peaceful protest against Police Brutality. Newshour weekend anchor Hari Sreenivasan spoke with him in texas. Sreenivasan how long do you think until this Community Heals itself from this . Id like to say were on our way to healing now, but all it takes is the next bad actor to upset that. Sreenivasan we went to see lieutenant Thomas Glover in dallas two days after the police shootings. Hes the president of the areas black Police Association and has the perspective on what its like to be a Police Officer and an African American. I started by asking him if its possible to want criminal Justice Reform while at the same time valuing the life of every Police Officer. I think it is, as an individual im that way, as an African American man, in america with over 35 years on the Police Department, i am that way. The majority of the Police Officers that i know, we all want to see behavior that is improperly exhibited by a Police Officer criminalized. You have to do your job as a Police Officer, and then on the other hand, when you remove your uniform and badge, and you go home, many of us spend our times in the black community. The social organizations we tend to become members of are black, the fraternities, sororities, alumni associations. So, we go from being Police Officers who work in a process where its our duty to do what we were sworn to do, and thats uphold the laws. But then you have some very heinous things that happen. I will not compromise my convictions as an African American male for the convenience of being a Police Officer. Just cant do it. I have reported misconduct. I have reported what i believe was to be excessive force. And i have vigorously tried to call out people who openly practice what i would say were discriminatory acts or racist acts of treatment of people of color. And so, that crossroads is very evident as an African AmericanPolice Officer because first of all you are a part of the community. Theres nothing i will ever be able to do that will dissolve my black skin. Nothing. Sreenivasan your unwillingness to compromise both of those identities, has that cost you in your career . Thats the dilemma we are faced with because we are expected to do whatever is necessary to be that officer of the law, 24 7. We are also expected to be the African American brother, father, uncle, cousin, pastor, deacon, 24 7, too. And that makes it a grueling task. I do think that people who are deliberately bringing forth misconduct, who, so to speak, break what you call code of silence, i dont think they have the opportunity to move up in Police Departments the way others do. When you complain about misconduct in many instances, you are labeled as a troublemaker, a militant, youre radical. Sreenivasan the dallas Police Department knows exactly where you stand . Yes, they know. They know where i stand. Sreenivasan there are so many people right now in the country who feel like, if im in trouble the cops are not who i call. How do you change that . Its sad that weve gotten to this