There have been so many comments about why the people in poor neighborhoods don't cooperate with police, and how are we going to catch this killer if they don't? There are some good ideas, but most are overly simplistic.
The relationships between people in poor neighborhoods and the police (backed by the leadership of the city) are fraught with years of neglect, abuse, deceit, and mistrust. This is not going to change over one incident, no matter how poigniant it is.
We have to understand that the police operate differently in these neighborhoods. There's been talk recently about an illegal gambling club on N. Allen St. that got shut down because of a robbery. The cops had had many complaints, knew what was going on, and possibly had some members who were participating. These points are typical in this type of situation. They finally "had" to do something.
What is not at all evident is that, if the club had been in Arbor or West Hill, it would quite likely still be in operation. In those neighborhoods, it takes a lot more for the police to "have" to do something about it. Way, way more.
I once lived in a poor neighborhood that had a similar problem with a club operating illegally. It operated for years, dragging the whole area down. There was a long list of complaints and incidents, including knifings and shootings, which were investigated by the police. The neighborhood was pretty much in despair about it. Many people had complained many times for years, and nothing was done. Most people had given up. Many thought the cops were being paid off.
The police finally did do their job, but only after several years of neighborhood people complaining and organizing.
It's hard to understand the level of despair and hopelessness there is in these neighborhoods about anything improving. The idea of giving information to the police in the hope of accomplishing anything is laughable.
A few weeks ago, there was a lot of talk about how some members of the police are allowed to abuse citizens in poor neighborhoods, with the knowlege and support of the city administration. Interesting that now that a child has been killed, everybody expects people to just turn around and "cooperate" with the police.
People can't just turn off their mistrust for police with a switch. Actions of the police (or inactions), and the administrations backing them, have undermined the relationships between citizens and police in poor neighborhoods for decades.
If you haven't lived in a neighborhood like this, and dealt with the police many times, you can't begin to understand what relationships with the police are like. If you talk to a cop, it can seem just as likely that they will think you're a criminal yourself, as it is for them to believe that you're giving them some useful information.
In most neighborhoods, you have some reasonable expectation that, if you have a problem and need help from the police, they will be a resource for you. In the poor neighborhoods, there is very little if any expectation that the police are a resource for you. It can seem like the cops have some other agenda, and they don't see it as their job to help you.
The common understanding is that, if criminal activities are kept somewhat out of obvious eyesight, then things are okay. The police aren't going to worry about it unless they have to, no matter how much you complain, or give them information.
Sometimes, a situation can come along that can move people enough, that things can work differently. Hopefully, this situation will be like that. But that will be for that one situation only. It won't address the underlying relationships between the police and citizens, or the city leadership and the neighborhoods.
That will take a longer struggle.
