Twin Cities forums explore racial bias, police tactics

St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith said his officers are trained not to immediately use lethal force when they draw their firearms.

"We never say shoot to kill in our line of work," Smith said Thursday. "We say shoot to stop, shoot to wound."

Smith made the statement during a panel discussion on racial bias and law enforcement at Macalester College in St. Paul. The discussion came as law enforcement agencies around the country are facing intense new scrutiny over their use of lethal force.

The issue has flared around the country as grand juries in New York and Ferguson, Mo., opted not to indict police officers who killed unarmed black men. New unrest emerged in late November after a Cleveland officer fatally shot a black 12-year-old who was playing with a toy gun in a park.

Across town in Minneapolis, hundreds of protesters blocked traffic on Interstate 35W and then marched in City Hall, decrying police treatment of minorities.

Smith said police have worked relentlessly to build good relationships in the burgeoning Somali and Hmong communities. The chief said a big challenge was convincing these groups that police were there to ensure their safety, not cause distrust or suspicion.

At a separate forum at the University of Minnesota, panelists took a deeper look at the reasons behind the unrest in Ferguson and the lessons that can be gleaned.

"Of course, none of that is spontaneous. There are always seedlings," she said. "The issues are deeply structural and systemic."

Speakers cautioned against placing too much faith in new body camera technology, which is being touted as a way to boost police accountability. Minneapolis police are embarking on a pilot project with the cameras now.

At least one member of the audience pointed out that, while footage of Eric Garner's arrest surfaced on the Internet shortly after his death, the grand jury still decided against indicting the officer involved.

President Obama recently announced that he would push for federal funding to buy 50,000 of the diminutive cameras to record police contact with residents.

Another panelist, Michelle Gross, recounted the story of a young black U student who was "brutalized" by university police officers while walking on campus after he failed to hear their commands to stop because he was wearing headphones. After a cellphone video of the encounter surfaced months later, the student filed a civil suit against the officers, Gross said.

"How the hell do you get the cops to stop beating and killing people? That's the real question," she said to the nearly 100 people who had crammed into a classroom. "Then the people might trust you."