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Commentary: Police Chief took Right action in firing officer
Florissant Has Always Worked with
Minority and Religious Community Leaders
By Rance Thomas
I would like to commend the Florissant Police Department for terminating Detective Joshua L. Smith from the police department so quickly for intentionally running into a non-threatening unarmed black man with an automobile and striking him while he was on the ground. The department’s action took place more quickly than in many other departments from around the country.
Chief Timothy Fagan deserves a lot of credit for taking this action as quickly as he did. The detective’s behavior was truly unexpected and unacceptable. It was unexpected because North County Churches Uniting for Racial Harmony and Justice (NCCU) has been working with this department for approximately 20 years in helping it improve its relations with the community especially the African-American community.
It has been working with various chiefs of the Department over those years including the late Mayor Robert Lowery when he was Chief and his successors including the more recent chief Timothy Lowery and now mayor and now with the current Chief Timothy Fagan. Since our first meeting with Robert Lowery the department was very cooperative and willing to make changes as necessary. For example In the early days, at our suggestion, Chief Lowery brought in a Community Relation specialist to train officers on police community relations. It worked with NCCU and other police departments over the years to improve police community relations and has worked with the school districts in this effort.
In fact, since the Michael Brown killing and the riots in Ferguson, it has been working with our committee that consists of three pastors, four other police departments, the superintendent of Hazelwood School District, a representative of the Ferguson-Florissant School District, a representative of the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s office, and several others in making changes to improve relations with the African-American community.
In fact, for the last five years, it has adopted NCCU’s Program of “Summons of Joy,” that takes place every Christmas season. This Program is highly publicized in the media, and it consists of NCCU receiving donations from some of its Churches located In the City of Florissant.
It purchases gift cards and give them to the Florissant Police Department to pass out to those they stop for minor violations, especially to those who appear to have a financial need. Instead of giving them tickets for the minor violations, they give them a warning and the gift cards, primarily to African-Americans. They pass out between 45-98 cards each year for a total cost of over $30,000 over the last five years.
The individuals who receive the gift cards seem love it and so do the police officers, because they receive many thanks and hugs that they have never received before. In fact, before the program begins, the police call and ask when the program will begin.
Therefore, this is why the behavior of the detective was so unexpected and definitely unacceptable. The Florissant Police Department has been working very hard to improve its relations with the African-American Community. This one incident seems to have done a great deal of damage to the image of the department and quickly terminating the officer was justified. A fair investigation should be conducted and legal action should be taken against the detective if appropriate.
(Rance Thomas, co-founder of NCCU is well-respected community and clergy voice in North County. A Phd, Dr. Thomas is a retired professor/administrator from SIU-Edwardsville )
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