Letters: End police bias, economic injustice

ISSUE | VIOLENCE

End police bias, economic injustice

The Opportunities Industrialization Center of America (OICA) mourns the senseless deaths of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and the officers killed in Dallas ("Obama: Don't despair," July 13).

The issues of police brutality, most notably against African Americans, and attacks on police are serious issues that our country must address while also working to put an end to racial discrimination. OICA stands with those who are working to root out injustices.

Wherever there is racial injustice, economic injustice also exists. The African American unemployment rate is double the national average, and the African American poverty rate ranges between 25 and 35 percent. Cities such as Philadelphia have neighborhoods where 50 percent of the people live beneath the poverty line and 65 percent are unemployed.

While police departments, like other American institutions, suffer from institutional racism in their policies and procedures, they are forced to face the consequences of failed economic policies directed at the black community. OICA calls for an end to institutional racism and racial profiling in policing and for development of an economic plan to revitalize communities of color. Until we come up with a plan built on helping people help themselves, there will be tensions in relationships between police and communities of color that could lead to violence.

|Rev. Gregory Holston,

national president, Opportunities Industrialization Center of America, Philadelphia, Gholston@oicofamerica.org

Support police

In light of the recent attacks on police officers around the nation ("3 La. police shot dead," Monday), I wanted to relay my experience as a former mayor of Cherry Hill overseeing a 150-officer police department. I promoted two chiefs, oversaw expansion of the community policing program, and ultimately saw a drop in crime.

This department ensures the safety of the 11th-largest municipality in the state and the largest retail center in South Jersey, and it does an outstanding job. Every day, every man and woman in the department straps on his or her bulletproof vest and puts his or her life on the line for our community. Being a police officer is a tough job, and the demands grow by the minute, but in spite of a few bad apples in cases around the country, we cannot turn our backs on the most important members of our town.

There is a special calling to be one of those who rush toward danger when most of us are running from it. They deserve our utmost respect and support for the work they do to keep our children and families safe.

|Bernard A. Platt, Cherry Hill