The death of Eric Garner and multiple shootings of unarmed blacks by police officers across the country have affected communities and strained relations with law enforcement everywhere. The deaths inspired movements like “Black Lives Matter” — and the responsive “Blue Lives Matter” — and ratcheted up tensions as community perception of lack of police accountability grew.
The highly charged environment inspired Suffolk County Community College Professor James Banks to try and open up a dialogue between police and the community in Suffolk County, with prevention through productive conversation as the goal.
“It’s essential that we get to the core of these things — the crux of it,” Banks said in a phone interview Monday.
Banks and others pitched the idea of a community conversation with police to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who agreed and set up an event in Hauppauge where Suffolk cops sat down with members of the community to talk.
“It was wonderful,” Banks said. “The police served the community pizza and everyone sat down to talk. People got to see police officers in a different light. It was so good, we decided to do the same thing in Southampton,” said Banks, who serves as chairperson of the Southampton Anti-Bias Task Force.
The Southampton Town event was held on the Stony Brook campus in Southampton, and members of Southold Town’s Anti-Bias Task Force attended. They embraced the notion of hosting a similar event in Southold.
“Synergy” will take place next Thursday, April 28 at the Southold Town Recreation Center on Peconic Lane in Peconic. It will begin at 6 p.m. with a 30-minute social time, including free pizza from Michelangelo’s in Southold. Banks will open up the discussion at 6:30. It is expected to last about an hour.
“The whole agenda is, instead of sitting back and complaining, picketing et cetera, it’s much more productive to talk about how to create a better dialogue and interaction,” Banks said.
Banks and Southold Anti-Bias Task Force member Christopher North, a student at SCCC, atteneded Monday morning’s task force meeting via telephone to discuss last-minute details of the event.
He said in an interview after the meeting that he’s hopeful these events will improve relations on the East End.
“We know there have been exchanges with police that have not always been wonderful. We know it’s happening as much on the East End as elsewhere,” the professor said.
“There are community members and law enforcement personnel who are effective and those who are not,” he said.
