East Cleveland Municipal Judge William L. Dawson held an open discussion about the relationship between African Americans and law enforcement. He encouraged conversation about community and police issues.
“It’s 2016, we expect our rights to be honored and that’s everybody,” Dawson said. “Police need to understand that not every young person that they encounter is a bad person. Compliance, for a lot of people, that’s a dirty word. We know that we have rights. We know police are expected to behave in a certain manor. Compliance is not only physical, but it’s also mental, as well as verbally. Often we’ll be in our car, hands on steering wheel, but yet, we’re jawing back at police officers.”
Dawson showed attendees videos of failed encounters with police. The group was encouraged to ask questions about what could have been done differently.
“I found, I got pulled over quite often when I was younger,” said Stephon Davis. “Police see a black person and feel threatened and intimidated, and feel like they might be harmed by that person. Maybe there needs to be more education on both sides.”
Dawson conducts weekly programs on leadership development at his court.
