Congresswoman Frederica Wilson recalls the time she knew she had to help address the issue of policing and Black men: She was recently elected to the school board when she received a call that a Coral Gables High School principal cut short a Black history program and told students they could go back to their classrooms. Wilson remembered that the disappointed students protested, police were called and by time she got to the school, she saw Black children being hauled off in handcuffs to jail. “I said, ‘no, no, no, no, you can’t do that,’” she said. It was that tension between officers and Black students added to another deadly incident involving police that made her realize something needed to be done.
When word got around that she was organizing a conference to address the issue, Wilson got a call from then Coral Gables Police Chief James Butler. They joined forces to create a two-day conference at the Biltmore Hotel which has become an essential part of 5000 Role Models of Excellence Program, a leadership program for young Black men Wilson created.
The event is key in strengthening communication between law enforcement officers and Black youth, Wilson told the Herald. “They graduate with an understanding of what the job of the police entails and by the police coming to these forums, they understand the feelings, the hardships, and the tension and the fear that is in the hearts of some of these young boys,” she said. “So that eases the tension. You have to have that conversation.”
About 1,000 students from the 5,000 Role Models program packed into the Kaseya Center on Tuesday to have that conversation at the annual event, called the Police & Youth Conference. The event is hosted by the 5000 Role Models in collaboration with the Miami Heat and national nonprofit Dedication to Community, which aims to educate society on justice.
At the conference, students hear from professionals in law enforcement and engage with them in breakout sessions on a variety of topics. In turn, law enforcement officers learns about what’s on the minds of young Black men and come up with solutions for policing that make both parties comfortable. 5000 Role Models participant and Coral Reef Senior High student Semaj Gilliard had an idea. He said he’d like to see more community-based policing in which officers that live in his community actually police their own neighborhoods.
“Police officers will live in my neighborhood, but they’ll drive over to Coral Gables or 14 blocks down, when I personally believe when people are active in their community where they know people …it seems to mitigate risks and bring down all the negatives that happen.”
Gilliard also participated in a panel with Miami Heat legends Glen Rice and Alonzo Mourning and North Miami police chief Cherise Giordani Gause to discuss the state of policing and how residents and officers can come to a better understanding of the challenges both face when interacting with each other.
Gilliard said it’s important for people to interact with officers when they’re not in uniform. “The more you see them without the badge the more and more you start to see them as people,” he said. “Now instead of an officer and a person talking, it’s two people coming to a solution.” Mourning said many people’s view law enforcement poorly in the wake of George Floyd’s killing and the decades following Rodney King’s beating, both incidents were filmed and shared across media. He urged the young men to understand there is a protocol they have to follow.
“Unfortunately, because we’ve had so many bad visuals of officers, we already have this perception of officers that’s kind of fearful,” Mourning said. “I still, when they’re behind me, I get a little tense. Am I going to get stopped?”
“I have that same fear, too,” Gause said. “When I’m stopped and I’m not in uniform and I’m out and I get stopped, I have that same level of fear. So, I think it’s valid.” Rice, who has a brother in law enforcement, said he wishes more attention was paid to positive interactions between law enforcement and citizens. “I think the media plays a big part of the solution,” he said. But Gilliard said that sometimes all that is needed is a little familiarity, recalling when he was pulled over for an illegal U-turn. “The first time I got pulled over, I was still afraid of the officer,” he said. “She came up to me and said ‘It’s OK’,” he said. “A couple weeks later in Publix, I’m walking there and then she taps me on the shoulder and says ‘do you remember me?’ “That little interaction humanized who the police are in my neighborhood much more,” Gilliard said.
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