Blessed are the peace officers

07-05-2023

Not too many years ago, “peace officer” was the term used to identify those whose duty it is “to serve and protect.” Today, the term is rarely heard. As part of McCormick’s Anti-Violence Advocacy continuing education course, Jia Johnson, director of McCormick’s Solidarity Building Initiative, interviewed Dr. RaShall M. Brackney, a former commander for the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Bureau of Police and former chief of police in Charlottesville, Virginia. In part one of the series, Dr. Brackney answers questions about police reform and ways churches can participate in creating environments of peace and safety in their communities.

Jia Johnson: Will you share how your career in law enforcement began?

Dr. Brackney: I would like to say that it was a lifelong dream…something I had thought about from the time that I was young. But that is not my story. As I was ending my undergraduate studies, I wasn't sure where I wanted to go…what I wanted to do. For my family, which was on the lower side of the economic scale, there was no such thing as a gap year where I could stay home and figure things out…to try to find myself. In fact, my grandmother would say, ‘I don't know why you're trying to find yourself; you don't look lost to me...you're right here in front of me.’ At the same time, my mother was bringing home all the civil service applications she could find…from the post office, fire department, police department, paramedics, transit authority…anything that would have a semblance of job security. I started filling them out and one opportunity was rising to the top. I was doing well on the exams for the police academy, and I was offered a place in an upcoming class… I was not a person who was physical or confrontational – my image of what being a police officer was – so this felt completely out of character for me. But it was a job and I had better not say no.

Jia Johnson: Can you share how your life experiences informed how you approached your role as a law enforcement officer?

Dr. Brackney: I grew up in a Pittsburgh community that was over policed and under protected. It was often said that we had no voice, but it was more accurate to say that our voices weren’t heard. When I joined the police department, I was policing the same community where I grew up. My cousins lived there, my brothers, sisters, and aunties, too. I had seen what happened there.

I started by asking different questions. What if we showed up with empathy towards the people we were encountering? What if we were there to meet the need…to help people thrive, not just survive that moment? I started reforms around cultural competencies…programs about what it feels like to encounter someone who doesn’t look like you and they know nothing about you.

Jia Johnson: What’s a starting point for you in terms of bringing about reform?

Dr. Brackney: It starts with our terms. Are we reforming, dismantling, or reimaging?  I struggle with terms such as reforming and dismantling because they are basically taking the same puzzle pieces and putting them in different places. Reimagining is asking us to think differently about what it would look like to create public safety initiatives driven by the community. What would it mean to have a healthy relationship with law enforcement from the community’s perspective? What if the community identifies the safety issues they are facing and how law enforcement agencies can help them feel safe in those situations? 

Another important starting point is looking at the numbers. Let’s say it’s stop-and-frisk encounters. What are the number of complaints? What type of complaints? Who are we voluntarily encountering? What was the reason for the encounter? Did the police report match body-worn camera footage or other evidence? What was the legal outcome? When we look at the numbers, we can start to see if there are disparities and create procedures to lessen them.

Jia Johnson: What are some ways for churches to let their voices be heard on the issues that are important to them?

Dr. Brackney: Communities and churches must know the stakeholders in their area as well as the assets that currently exist. Lots of community work can be done without governmental agencies. There are non-governmental organizations, activist groups, charities, the church itself, or retired professionals who can provided needed resources and services… The Black church has been a bedrock for change.  

One reason the Civil Rights Movement worked was because it used long-term strategies such as boycotting…it wasn’t afraid to call out institutions…it understood that Black communities could drive economies and politics… We have more power than we understand. We are looked to for endorsements, contributions, and focus group studies. We have to be more than data points for someone’s research. More can be done to leverage our institutional agency to create authentic alliances that move us toward the outcomes we want.

Jia Johnson: What are some ways for congregations to be part of the peace making process and build relationships between the community and law enforcement?

Dr. Brackney: In Pittsburgh, we encouraged churches to adopt a block. We let them know the things that were occurring in that one-block radius and asked them to claim that block and what they could do to engage with the people there. The church has to leave the building and take ownership of the space right around them. In this effort, we saw one of the highest crime rate communities become one of the lowest.

Churches don’t have to wait for officers to come to them. They can reach out… ask where they can fill some gaps. Create liaisons with public housing communities, immigrant communities, schools, and other places where people gather and let them know what you are doing besides Sunday service. Knowing and connecting with the community makes a difference. It’s important to be part of where you are.

In part two of this public lecture, meet community activist Pastor Michael McBride of Way Christian Center in West Berkeley, California, and director of the Live Free Campaign. Find out how he’s addressing the church’s role in public safety issues.

Learn more about supporting McCormick’s Solidarity Building Initiative here.

Jia Johnson

Dr. RaShall M. Brackney