Clergy and police leaders from Maryland and the District discussed community tensions with members of law enforcement and what can potentially be done to reduce them during a conversation Wednesday night at the Temple of Praise church in Southeast D.C.
“This is not a situation where we are looking at bashing anyone,” Bishop Glen Staples said. “We want to discuss some things and see what can be done.”
Staples led the event, hearing from D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham, who said officers sometimes lack empathy when interacting with the public because of the crimes they deal with on a daily basis.
“The trauma that police officers face in some of our most challenging communities is real,” Newsham said. “After you’ve seen that trauma so many times, it becomes normal.”
Newsham said one of the things police departments can do is to provide proper mental health services for officers so they can better address the trauma in their lives.
Devan Martin, the police chief in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, said that his ideal situation would be religious leaders routinely working directly with officers.
“When we respond to a crime of violence like a homicide, we want the chaplains coming with us,” Martin said. “I have someone there healing the grief that the family is feeling.”
The conversation comes as the nation has experienced increased tension following the May killing of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Violent crime has been spiking in major cities around the country, including the District.
According to the latest D.C. police figures, the District has seen 102 homicides so far in 2020, compared to 82 at the same time in 2019 — a 24% jump.
“I think we’ve talked about the increase in gun violence in our city for the last three years,” Newsham said at a news conference earlier in the week.
“It’s really kind of troubling because if you look at violent crime in our city, every other category of violent crime, we’ve had significant progress in reducing those numbers across the city, and it’s the gun violence that’s the challenge I think we all need to tackle,” Newsham said.
Watch the entire discussion below.
