ARLINGTON, Va. — Deaths of unarmed black men as a result of police encounters in Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore and elsewhere have sparked a nationwide reexamination of policing practices. A Maryland General Assembly joint Senate-House committee opened hearings last week into recruitment, training and other practices of police agencies across the state.
Virginia has an inquiry of smaller scope underway. The office of Attorney General Mark Herring is reviewing police and community relations across the commonwealth and plans to develop recommendations on policing practices.
“I think it’s definitely needed. I think we can and need to have that conversation in Virginia. I don’t have all the answers right now but I want to begin to move the conversation forward and take some concrete steps,” Herring says.
Having seen Baltimore streets dissolve into rioting after Freddie Gray’s death in April, Herring believes the time is right for the review.
“It makes me wonder whether the same tensions are underlying the surface here in Virginia that obviously were in Baltimore,” Herring says.
In remarks Sunday afternoon to the Virginia Latino Leaders Council, Herring asked minority communities to let his office know if they feel subjected to unequal treatment by police in their communities.
“I’d like to know what their experience is, what they’re hearing in the community….it’s important that I hear from folks so we can take in that information,” Herring says.
Minority communities nationwide, including African Americans and Hispanics, have raised questions about police practices, arguing that police often single out minorties for harsher treatment compared to whites.
“I also feel like we are beginning to have a real and robust conversation nationally about whether we’re beginning to live up to the ideas of equal justice,” Herring says.
Herring says he’s talking to people across the state, individuals, community leaders and law enforcement to get broad input on the subject of policing.
He says future recommendations for boosting trust between communities and police could include improved police training and perhaps efforts at stronger police recruitment among minorities.
Although police in D.C. have been spared major controversies over policing practices compared with forces elsewhere, the Metropolitan Police Department announced last week, significant changes in policing strategies, ending plainclothes police operations against street corner drug buys.
