Conference aimed to build trust for FBI, minorities

Tuesday, December 04, 2007

ROBERT K. GORDON

News staff writer

The FBI and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on Monday concluded a two-day conference designed to build relationships in minority communities.

The second annual "Where Do We Go From Here?" workshop featured such speakers as U.S. Rep. Artur Davis and Willie T. Hulon, who heads the FBI's counterintelligence and counterterrorism programs.

Such events are needed because of the lack of trust between law enforcement and minorities, said Lawrence Pijeaux, the institute's president and CEO.

"There is a history there," he said, referring to the ill treatment of minorities at the hands of police.

Carmen Adams, special agent in charge at the Birmingham FBI office, said her office regularly meets with community leaders in an effort to foster trust. It's the FBI's job to investigate possible civil rights violations, and agents can't do that unless someone talks to them, she said.

"We need people to trust the FBI," Adams said.

Fear and a negative perception toward law enforcement keeps people from being cooperative, Adams said.

A good working relationship helps investigators do their jobs, Hulon said.

"We have a responsibility to enforce the civil rights laws and protect and serve every community in the United States," he said. "We have to open the lines of communication and make sure everyone understands we're there to protect them."

Paul Daymond, spokesman in the Birmingham FBI office, said the office is putting together a multicultural advisory committee. People from different faiths and ethnicities will be represented on the committee, he said.

While law enforcement has to work to build trust, the community has to do its part, too, said Dorothy Johnson-Speight, whose son was gunned down six years ago during an argument over a parking space.

Johnson-Speight, of Philadelphia, runs a program called Mothers in Charge, which urges people to speak up if they have information that will help police solve a crime.

She said the man who killed her son killed someone else just days earlier. Her son would still be alive if someone had spoken up, Johnson-Speight said.

Not speaking out "is a mindset that permeates our community," she said. "Not speaking up does not make our communities any safer."

E-mail: rgordon@bhamnews.com