HARRISBURG, Pa. — An open conversation was held Friday between Black Lives Matter activists and Harrisburg officials to discuss issues the black community faces.
"There's a wedge between law enforcement and the community for a reason," said Kevin Maxson, an activist in Harrisburg. "We're taught at an early age to fear the police, instead of acknowledge them as civil servants. We're taught to run from the police, instead of standing our ground and answering questions."
Maxson says, as the Harrisburg Police adopt '8 Can't Wait', which are policies aimed at reducing harm caused by police officers, change also needs to happen within the community. He says, trust needs to be built between law enforcement and young people.
"I think diversity programs where our law enforcement officers interact with our youth would be a step towards change," said Maxson. "But, it's still not a total resolution until we understand what is affecting our youth."
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Maxson says, one issue facing youth in the black community is the school to prison pipeline, the disproportionate rate at which teens and young people of color are incarcerated.
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"Prison should be the worst case scenario," said Maxson. "Unless there's a violent offense or something that is so tragic that you need to lock that individual up and also make sure they get counseling."
In Pennsylvania, black youth are about 10 times more likely to be incarcerated than white youth. During the discussion, Harrisburg activist Terrance Webb asked both the mayor and their police, "Would you say that black people have a predisposition to criminal behavior or is there something else that has been going on forever that we just won't look at?"
Mayor Papenfuse said, "No, I don't think those statistics show any criminal disposition on African-Americans. I think it shows the systemic racism in our judicial system and the legacies of slavery and oppression that run deep in our country's history. Both the institution of slavery and all the way through Jim Crow and into the modern era, policing has been used as a means of oppression and racism."
Everyone taking part in the discussion said both sides need to communicate better. They believe police need to be trained on how to deal with different races and cultures, and those same people need to better understand police.
"We need to both be looking at this differently," said Harrisburg Police Lt. Mylo Hooper. "We need to clean the glass on the outside and we need to clean the glass on the inside."
Mayor Papenfuse and the police department will review the ideas raised in the discussion and look at ways to implement them.