Recommendation

[(1)(1a)] Encourage local churches to join in ecumenical and interfaith efforts to establish community-based programs designed to evaluate, monitor, and assist law-enforcement agencies in their efforts to establish and administer sound policies and procedures that will direct the highest level of ethical behavior for law-enforcement officers in assuring the fair and just treatment of all people and in furthering the process of accountability by helping to develop mechanisms for civilian review.2352000

[(1b) Urge local churches to join in community initiatives that provide wages and incentives for service, which are designed to attract and retain police officers of the highest skill, intelligence, and integrity.]2352000

(2) Urge local churches to join in efforts to assist law-enforcement agencies in developing recruitment and screening processes that identify and eliminate candidates with [prejudicial] racial and cultural biases.2352000

(3) Urge local churches to ensure that officers are empowered to uphold the law and not abuse their authority and that training include psychological testing, counseling, antiracism training as an in-service component and for new recruits.2352000

(4) Urge local churches to call upon law-enforcement agencies to encourage them through their training, disciplinary, and enforcement procedures to make every possible effort to remove from their ranks officers who display racial prejudices, and/or those who do not respect the life of all persons, and/or those who engage in acts of brutality and excessive force.2352000

(5) Urge local churches to call upon police departments and other municipal leaders to support and encourage law-enforcement personnel who do their work responsibly and to provide assurance that the jobs of those who seek to counteract the misdeeds of their colleagues will not be lost or their promotions jeopardized.2352000

(6) Urge local churches to work with their state legislatures to strengthen the laws prohibiting harassment, racial profiling, or injury to persons who are targeted because of race, gender, or sexual orientation.2352000

(7) Urge local churches to call upon law-enforcement agencies to make available data on victims of police brutality and racial profiling in order to aid in policymaking studies.2352000

(8) Urge presbyteries and local churches to take antiracism training, such as materials developed by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in preparation for working with law-enforcement agencies.2352000

[Financial Implications: $1,660 (2000), Per Capita (OGA)]2352000

2. Resolution on Police Accountability2352000

The biblical witness and theological heritage of our church strongly affirm that the roles of the magistrate, which includes both the task of making and the duty of enforcing laws to protect public order, are ordained by God. Those who undertake such roles may properly consider themselves engaged in a divinely mandated responsibility of which they can be proud. Insofar as these officials are committed to the fair administration of justice, the public owes them both respect and obedience. It should greet them with appreciation and sustain them with encouragement. As the Apostle Paul suggests in Rom. 13:1–7, they are essential to our well-being.2352000

But the same biblical witness and theological heritage of our church requires us to be concerned that the exercise of magisterial roles be done responsibly. While recognizing that most police officers are committed to justice and deserving of our support, we are required to acknowledge that individuals can misuse and abuse the authority with which they have been entrusted. The treatment of all citizens must be fair; the use of magisterial power must be accountable to God. This resolution and the accompanying recommendations are premised both upon the need to affirm the role of police in protecting our safety and our well-being and the need to be sure that role is not marred by misuse.2352000

Two different matters of social concern are highlighted in this mandate, each of which can be understood as a special problem. Yet, despite the differences between2352000

them, the two matters are clearly related. Both concern how professional law enforcement should cope with the consequences of culturally prevalent biases against particular groups. Police brutality in communities of color (where it is most in evidence) is an instance in which professionalism in the enforcement of the law breaks down because occasional members of public safety organizations treat members of certain groups in ways that are inappropriate for law-enforcement officers. Hate crimes also involve unacceptable behavior toward certain groups—groups that suffer from public prejudice—but they are usually committed by members of the general public. When such behavior is outlawed, as many versions of it are in the federal and the majority of state jurisdictions, it becomes the task of law-enforcement officials to investigate and bring its perpetrators before the bar of justice. Unless members of law-enforcement agencies fully respect the demands of fairness in their work, they are not likely to deal adequately with hate crimes. [Because the issue of hate crimes is a significant one that must be addressed not only within the context of law enforcement but within the context of society at large, the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy feels that its current study of terrorism and hate groups will provide to the church a more comprehensive background for future study and action on this problem. For readers who may want to pursue existing General Assembly policies, recent actions can be found in the following: Overture 99-64. On the Negative Effects of Stereotyping and Hate Crime Based on Sexual Orientation,Minutes, 1999, Part I, pp. 79, 661–62; Overture 99-65. On the Negative Effects of Stereotyping and Religion, Minutes, 1999, Part I, pp.79–80, 663–64; Overture 99-66. On the Negative Effects of Stereotyping Native Americans, Minutes, 1999, Part I, pp. 80, 665–66; and the report on “Hate Crimes and Anti-Asian Violence,”Minutes, 1998, Part I, pp. 57, 504, 506–10.]2362000

The biblical heritage and theological traditions of our church call us to take responsible care for the places where we live—to seek the welfare of the city. Israel did this when it found itself in new land following the exodus from Egypt. Even in exile Jeremiah told the people, “. . . seek the welfare of the city . . ., and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jer. 29:7). The work of law enforcement is one of the important ways in which this is done. The welfare of the city requires the just and unbiased treatment of persons by members of law-enforcement agencies, or by citizens of each other. In America, as in other pluralistic and diverse societies, it requires people who are very different to live together with mutual respect.2362000

We acknowledge, then, that when one person suffers, we all suffer (1 Cor. 12:26). With God’s grace, we seek to live out our call to a love that respects all persons. “. . . Those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also” (1 John 4:21). Few imperatives carry greater weight than the imperative to treat all persons fairly, and to counteract every instance in which, on the basis of color or lifestyle, people are subjected to abusive or unfair treatment.2362000

We affirm that without justice there can be no peace, no well-being. As reiterated again and again in Scripture, God’s compassion and justice are exercised for the lowly and exploited, with God’s judgment directed against those who actively hurt or passively allow them to be hurt. As believers in the efficacy of God’s justice, we feel compelled to intervene when any one of our brothers or sisters is discriminated against, whether by individuals or by the law-enforcement personnel who are charged with guarding public safety and well-being.2362000

A term that has come into general use to denote the responsibilities of law enforcement in relationship to these matters is police accountability. Sometimes it is applied only to matters of police brutality against persons of color, but it has implications for the treatment of hate crimes as well. Moreover, the term implies the need for an alert and sensitive citizenry with concern for matters of justice for all. Churches have a role to play in the nurture of such a justice-sensitive citizenry—a citizenry by whom law-enforcement officials are respected for the work they do and to whom they are held accountable for doing it fairly. And that citizenry is itself accountable to God for how it seeks a public life that is fair and just.2362000