FREDERICA FREYBERG:
WE CAUGHT UP WITH ONE MEMBER OF THE CLERGY LEADING THE WAY IN RESPONSE TO TONY ROBINSONS’ DEATH, HE WEARS MANY HATS. HE IS UW-MADISON’S DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS, A FORMER DANE COUNTY PROSECUTOR, AN ELDER MEMBER OF YOUNG GIFTED AND BLACK, AND PASTOR OF CHRIST THE SOLID ROCK BAPTIST CHURCH IN MADISON. EVERETT MITCHELL TOLD ME HOW THE FAITH COMMUNITY HAS RALLIED FOR CHANGE.

EVERETT MITCHELL:
THE MORNING AFTER TONY WAS KILLED, A FRIEND OF MINE AND I SENT OUT AN EMAIL ASKING THEM TO COME TOGETHER. AND WE HAD ABOUT 50 CLERGY THERE. AND THEN LAST FRIDAY WE MET AGAIN AS A COMMITTMENT TO SAY WE ALL NEED TO DO SOMETHING TOGETHER, REGARDLESS OF OUR THEOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES. WE ARE TOGETHER ON THIS. AND THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME IN THE HISTORY OF MADISON, THAT SUCH A VERY DIVERSE THEOLOGICAL GROUP CAME TOGETHER TO SAY THAT WE MAY BE DIFFERENT BUT MANY THINGS BUT ON THESE, WE ARE IN SOLIDARITY AND WE’RE GOING TO WORK TOGETHER TO ERASE THESE DISPARITIES AND TO ALMOST DEMAND SOME TRANSPARENCY AND CHANGE IN HOW COMMUNITIES ARE POLICED.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:
HOW DOES THAT DIFFER, THAT MISSION, FROM YOUR MISSION AS AN ELDER MEMBER OF YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK?

EVERETT MITCHELL:
IT’S A DIFFERENT SIDE OF THE COIN. ON ONE SIDE, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE CLERGY PUTTING PRESSURE IN DIFFERENT WAYS AND YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK PUTTING PRESSURE AS WELL. AND WE DON’T SEE ANY CHANGE BEING MADE WITHOUT THIS KIND OF CONTINUED PRESSURE. WITHOUT THAT CONTINUED PRESSURE, THE SYSTEM WILL STAY AS IT IS, AND WE’RE REALLY JUST LOOKING FOR VERY FUNDAMENTAL SPECIFIC THINGS. AROUND TRAINING, AROUND INTEGRATING MORE USE OF FORCE INTO THE TRAINING OF OFFICERS, AND ENSURE THAT THERE’S SOME KIND OF CERTIFICATION OFFICERS HAVE TO GO THRU ON AN ANNUAL BASIS TO ENSURE THAT THEY ARE LEARNING HOW TO DE-ESCALATE SITUATIONS RATHER THAN WALKING INTO THEM AND ESCALATING THEM. I MEAN WHEN THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY TALKED ABOUT MATT KENNY WENT INTO THE HOUSE HOT. HE WENT IN THERE WITH HIS GUN OUT, ALREADY DRAWN. THERE’S NOWHERE FOR HIM TO GO OTHER THAN TO SHOOT. AND SO IF THERE’S NO TRAINING ON HOW TO DE-ESCALATE THOSE SITUATIONS, WE WILL SEE THIS AGAIN. WE SAW PAUL HEENAN IN 2012, AND NOW, WE’RE SEEING IT WITH TONY ROBINSON IN 2015.

FREDERICA FREYBERG:
DO YOU FEEL AS THOUGH, WHAT YOU’RE ASKING FOR IS BEING HEARD?

EVERETT MITCHELL:
I THINK IT IS STARTING TO BE HEARD. I THINK THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION IS SOMEWHAT DICTATING HOW WE RESPOND LOCALLY, BECAUSE THERE’S A NATIONAL PUSH FOR THIS KIND OF CHANGE. WE’RE NOT SPEAKING ABOUT THINGS THAT ARE SO RADICAL THAT THEY’VE NEVER BEEN HEARD OF BEFORE. THERE ARE GOVERNORS, THERE ARE BIPARTISAN REPUBLICAN AND DEMOCRATS ASKING FOR THE SAME TRANSPARENCY AND CHANGE. AND SO IF THE BROADER POLICE UNION RECOGNIZES THAT THERE NEEDS TO BE SOME CHANGE THEN WE AT LEAST AT A MINIMUM HERE IN THE COMMUNITY NEED TO DO THE SAME THING. SO WE’RE JOINING, WITH THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COUNCIL OF CHURCHES TO DEMAND AMONG THE 27 POLICE DISTRICTS IN DANE COUNTY, THAT WE ALL HAVE AN AGREEMENT OF WHAT THAT USE OF FORCE WILL LOOK LIKE. ALONG WITH THE YOUNG, GIFTED AND BLACK, PUSHING FOR FREE THE 350 AND, GIVE MORE COMMUNITY POLICING CONTROL TO THE COMMUNITY. AS WELL AS TO HAVE AN INVESTIGATION DONE. I MEAN EVEN THE ROBINSON FAMILY, THE REASON WHY THEY DISPUTE. THEY HAD A PRIVATE AUTOPSY DONE OF THIS SITUATION, AND THEY CAME TO A DIFFERENT CONCLUSION. WE JUST NEED A SENSE OF TRUST IN THE SYSTEM, WHICH RIGHT NOW NOBODY SEEMS TO HAVE.