The Church & Community Policing

Acts 16:35-40                                                 Rev. Todd B. Freeman

Bethany Presbyterian Church, Dallas                                          June 20, 2004

The Oak Lawn neighborhood of Dallas, to which this congregation has called home for 112 years, is far from the safest neighborhood in Dallas. This area of town has a very high rate of break-ins, burglaries, and illegal drugs.

For the past 4 1/2 years I have lived just a half a mile from the church, behind the Krogers on Douglas Ave. Almost daily, as I walk my dog around the block, I see people “working the neighborhood.” I saw two just this morning.

Crack houses, or crack apartments, come and go constantly in this neighborhood. Last year, there was one such apartment across the street and another a half a block away from where I live. Both have been shut down. Others somewhere nearby will inevitably open up.

My own apartment has been broken into 3 times, and my car the same number – the most recent occurring last year in this parking lot around 8:00 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Other people, including some in this congregation, have been victimized as well.

This sanctuary has had the occasional broken window and gang graffiti. Earlier this year the back kitchen in this building, which the Mi Escuelita Preschool uses, was broken into. A TV and VCR were stolen, along with a vacuum cleaner. About a decade or so ago burglar bars were installed on the Parish House across the walkway, which thankfully has put a halt to break-ins there.

Since I work most of the week here at the church alone I have been asked if I ever get scared or feel unsafe. The honest answer is no. While I try to be vigilant and careful, I refuse to live and work in fear. And, at least to this point, I refuse to live outside the neighborhood that this church seeks to serve.

Needless to say, I have issues with the police work that is being done (or not being done as the case may be) here in Oak Lawn.

Perhaps it was providential, therefore, that last year I was asked to be on the Board of Governors of the Texas Regional Community Policing Institute, headquartered at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville. It is part of a nation-wide program formed during the Clinton Administration and is part of the U.S. Department of Justice (COPS). The overall purpose is to return police officers to “working the beat” of the neighborhoods they serve. Intentional time is to be spent getting to know and interact with the people in their community.

Since being on the Board, I have attended the national meeting of Regional Community Policing Institutes in Washington DC last December, and most recently a 5-day training event, sponsored by the Texas Region, held this past week in San Antonio.

How, you may ask, did all this come about? I can thank John and Susan Hepola’s daughter, Sarah, for that. As most of you are aware, last August Sarah wrote a wonderful article about Bethany, called “Mixed Flock”, for the Dallas Observer. Copies of it are on our Information Table in the back of the sanctuary. The article began, “A few Sunday ago, Bethany Presbyterian Church baptized two new members. Inside the small, wooden sanctuary on Cedar Springs Road, they stood – a Hispanic teen girl and a gay white male – with their families beside them. A small flock of relatives surrounded the young girl. The gay man stood with his partner.” The article goes on to explain our wonderfully mixed congregation – Anglo/Hispanic, straight/gay, young/old.

What’s this have to do with the Texas Regional Community Policing Institute? Their director, Dr. Phillip Lyons, who also teaches in the Criminal Law Department at Sam Houston State University, was searching the Internet last fall and came across this Dallas Observer article. He was fascinated because a church was successfully working with the kind of folks he is trying to get police forces to work with in a more productive way.

The Institute focuses their training efforts on what they have delineated as four historically neglected communities whom the police have not always worked with effectively. These include 1) Hispanic immigrants, especially those who are undocumented 2) the gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender community, 3) mentally ill and cognitively impaired persons, and 4) children and youth.

Dr. Lyons was thrilled to find a church that ministered directly to and effectively with two of these broad categories. Indeed, we work with all four.

At the conference in San Antonio this week, an entire day was spent addressing issues involved in each of these four population groups. Police department representatives and community leaders from around the country came and presented successful programs they have developed in their communities.

During the conference I took detailed notes as to the different approaches being taken. When I addressed the conference on Thursday morning I first shared our Bethany story and then reflected upon the uncanny similarities between justice work of inclusive, whether it be carried out by a church or a police department.

I read back to them the following statement about the purpose of community policing and then read it a second time, substituting the police words with church words. The statement reads:

Community policing is premised on the notion of community involvement. In a pluralistic and democratic society, it is important that we include all relevant stakeholders. Some segments of the community have been left out of community policing efforts because of the legal status and historical tension between themselves and the police. Undocumented persons and gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender people fall into this category. Others have been left out because of assumptions about their ability to participate as full members of the community – assumptions that are often erroneous. Children and youth fall into this category, as do people with mental illness or cognitive impairment. Outreach efforts with these populations are in keeping with the tenets of community policing.

Again, substitute church words for policing words and you have a great mission statement for any missionally-oriented congregation.

Dr. Lyons opened the conference with saying that the goals of community policing are: to listen to all in their community; to give voice to those without wealth and power; and to reduce fear and misunderstandings. During my presentation I repeated these words and reflected upon how they closely they followed the spirit of our congregation’s Mission Statement: to demonstrate Christian inclusiveness, strive for social justice, and proclaim God’s loving forgiveness and acceptance. People started to understand the connection.

In the remainder of this sermon I want to share some of the thoughts and statements of the other presenters. These are words I reminded the conference participants of in my presentation, and then shared how similar they were to experiences we have had in our ministry efforts.

First of all, the conference was not attended by nearly as many police officers as was hoped. It was discussed that this, in part, was due to the nature and reluctance still present in dealing with these four historically neglected communities.

Rev. Ed Gomez, Director of an outreach and education program at El Buen Samaritano Episcopal Church in Austin rightly stated that “staying ahead of the curve is a very lonely job – hoping others will catch up.”I have long felt the same way with the Presbyterian denomination.

Rev. Gomez spoke about the cultural difference not only between Hispanics and Anglos, but even between long-time Mexican-Americans and recent undocumented Mexican immigrants. This, of course, is true regardless of the country one immigrates from.

It caused me to reflect upon all the cultural differences we have had to learn about each other in this congregation. And as Sergeant Paul LeBaron of the Long Beach Police Department in California stated, “Cultural awareness is a process – not a one-time class.”

Rev. Gomez related a story about how a group of Hispanic immigrants were cooking a whole pig on the front lawn of an apartment complex where they were living. Other residents called the police and wanted them arrested. After a bit of negotiating and explanations, those who were upset declared, “How could you not know this is inappropriate?”

The fact is, what is inappropriate to one cultural group is not necessarily so to another. The way we look at laws and rules are different. Understandably, this is a huge frustration for many.

The conference attendees got a kick out the story I told of how on more than one occasion a young Hispanic child in our congregation rushed the pulpit while I was preaching. I shared how I could sense the tension and anxiety rising in the congregation as this was occurring, but that I simply paused, looked down, and said, “Hi Aram!,” and waited for him to head back down the isle.

The Assistant Chief of the Austin Police Department, Chief Rudy Landeros, stated their department’s attitude toward undocumented immigrants. He said, “Our task is not to change people’s minds about the legality of immigration issues – but once they are in our communities they need to be served and protected, period, just like everyone else!”

I shared how Bethany illegally housed a family from El Salvador for a brief time in the 1980’s as part of something called “The Sanctuary Movement.”

Each and every presenter, regardless of the topic, reiterated how crucial it was, and is, to treat all people with respect and dignity. Chief Landeros also warned that none of this will happen unless this philosophy and approach toward other people is internalized. I concurred in my presentation, commenting that being truly inclusive is not a program but a transformed way of thinking and being.

Presenter after presenter made a very similar comment about why this approach to policing should be adopted: “Because it’s the right thing to do!”

I think that statement rightly reflects this congregation’s approach to ministry as well. Why do we seek to be inclusive and respectful to all people? Because it’s the right thing to do. And to put it in a theological framework, because that’s what Jesus modeled, and what God would have us do.

Finally, Maryjo Avilar, a member of the city council of Provincetown, MA, which has a large GLBT population, told us that there are billboards upon entering their town that boldly state, “THIS IS A NO PLACE FOR HATE COMMUNITY.”

There is so much more I would like to share about this incredible experience in San Antonio, but there is not time this morning. Suffice it to say, police, community leaders, and clergy alike were very pleasantly surprised at recognizing the similar attitudes and even practical approaches necessary to reach out to all persons in the community with respect and dignity.

My next step, and if any of you are so inclined to get involved, is to work more closely in developing a community model of policing to help us here in Oak Lawn.

Amen.