In Phila., Holder urges candid dialogue on race, policing

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., chairing a Philadelphia roundtable on policing issues Thursday, told attendees not to waste the opportunity they had before them.

"Too often, we have not approached these problems" - namely issues of trust between police officers and the communities they serve - "with the candor I'm seeking today," he said.

Holder was on the fifth stop in a national listening tour in the wake of widespread nationwide protests against the deaths of unarmed African American men at the hands of white police officers in recent months. He called such efforts to bridge the trust gap between minority communities and police departments a "legacy item" for the Obama administration.

And he urged attendees to speak candidly.

"This is a safe space," he told the few dozen participants, seated in a conference room at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Center City.

He acknowledged both the difficulty and danger faced by police officers on the job and some community members' feelings of mistrust of law enforcement. "These feelings are real," he said.

Reporters were permitted to hear opening remarks from Holder; Zane David Memeger, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Mayor Nutter; and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey. But the rest of the hour-and-a-half conversation was closed to them.

"It was everything I could have expected and more," Nutter said after the meeting, describing a wide-ranging conversation in which participants spoke frankly about race and "said things you might not hear at a regular community meeting."

He said that the meeting would not be the only one of its kind in Philadelphia and that the local U.S. Attorney's Office would "continue the dialogue."

After a grand jury in Missouri declined to indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, a decision that resulted in protests and rage, President Obama appointed Holder as the administration's point person for examining the case.

Obama tasked Holder with overseeing a federal civil rights investigation into the case and to "work with cities across the country to help build better relations between communities and law enforcement."

Thursday's discussion was the fifth Holder has convened and included representatives from the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP, church leaders, law enforcement officials, lawmakers, and others, including former Mayor W. Wilson Goode.

David Johnson, 17, a senior at Strawberry Mansion High School, was the meeting's youngest attendee. He said he was honored to have participated, and spoke to attendees on ways to decrease fear in communities on behalf of community members and police alike.

"Community unity is necessary," Johnson said. "What happened today serves as a perfect example - [law enforcement] and citizens sat at the same table and discussed problems that affect both of us."

Outside the meeting on Chestnut Street, more than 40 protesters gathered to denounce the exclusion of the public.

They chanted "Black lives matter" and called for justice for Brandon Tate-Brown, 26, an African American who was fatally shot by Philadelphia police Dec. 15 during a struggle after a traffic stop in Mayfair.

Armed with a bullhorn, they shouted against Holder and Nutter, declaring him "Mayor Nuthin."

Some community activists who attended the meeting exited the building and were greeted with cries of "Shame!" when they ignored the protesters and walked away.

The group had hoped to confront Holder and Nutter but left after neither came out through the front door.