SPRINGDALE -- Unity was the prevailing message Tuesday as police and community members gathered to communicate and understand each other in the wake of several recent national tragedies.
"It's no surprise to anyone some of the issues we're dealing with," Mayor Doug Sprouse said. "We've had tragedies all across the nation. We have not experienced these problems in Springdale or Northwest Arkansas, but we have concerns. How do we keep these tragedies from happening here? What's happening here today is part of that answer."
Scores of law enforcement officers and Northwest Arkansas residents, especially black community members, attended the open house at the City Administration Building. City and law enforcement leaders spoke of the concern of division and the need for an open community and unity.
"I really believe our strength is in our unity," Sprouse said.
The open house was orchestrated after recent fatal shootings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, La., and earlier police shootings of black men in St. Paul, Minn., and Baton Rouge.
Washington County Sheriff Tim Helder said transparency is essential to progress.
"If there are any hard questions, we've got to be willing to answer those and openly discuss," Helder said. "We're public servants and we're here to serve people, but how can we truly do that if we don't know what they truly expect of us?"
Shun Strickland, a Springdale resident who serves as pastor for Fellowship of Champions in Rogers, wrote a letter to Sprouse that called for a dialogue between the community, the city and law enforcement following the death of Philando Castile, a black man who on July 6 was fatally shot by a police officer after he was pulled over for a broken tail light in Minnesota.
"While we don't have those problems, every community thinks they can't have those problems until they (actually) have those problems, and so I thought it was important to figure out how we could work together to make sure there is trust and no tension between African-Americans and police in this community," Strickland said.
Uncomfortable conversations must first be had to reach a place where police and people of color are comfortable with one another, Strickland said.
"One of the things we understand is that people who aren't racist really struggle to talk about racism, but how African-Americans feel about things is still deeply rooted in racist practices in this country over hundreds of years, so in order for you to understand me, we have to talk about it and talk about it without you feeling attacked or me feeling attacked when you don't agree," Strickland said.
Erika Jennings, a Bentonville resident who attended the open house with Strickland, said achieving unity will require communication that continues beyond Tuesday's open house.
"As I get to know (police officers) I get to see them as husbands, as fathers, as people in the community, and as they get to know me, they get to know me as a wife, as a mother, as a person," Jennings said. "As I raise my black son to grow up in this community, I want him to be seen as a human and not a threatening African-American male."
Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan stressed that the lives of all people matter.
"The instances of brutality we have seen elsewhere has no place in our community," Jordan said.
Law enforcement leaders stressed the significance of the open house.
"This is a great first step toward making relationships better between police departments and the community," Fayetteville Police Chief Greg Tabor said.
There has been an outpouring of police support across the nation, including Springdale, where officers have received cards expressing gratitude and platters of food since the shooting deaths of five officers in Dallas and three officers in Baton Rouge.
"There are times we don't know if we're appreciated, and it's really evident you appreciate us," Springdale Police Chief Mike Peters said.
Peters was one of area several law enforcement leaders who answered questions from Marcus Carruthers, pastor of Dwelling Place Church in Fayetteville, who served as a moderator.
Tension and misunderstandings between black citizens and law enforcement can be resolved through continuous open dialogue, Carruthers said after the open house concluded and community members informally visited with city and law enforcement leaders.
"(This can be achieved) by opening dialogues, opening communications, creating a bridge where people can go back and forth and say, 'My door is always open to you. I have not only an open door, but also an open heart,'" Carruthers said.
Jovan Williams has lived in Springdale for the past five years. He moved to Northwest Arkansas from St. Louis. The open house was the first city meeting Williams has attended.
"To be quite honest, I've never really had that much trust in law enforcement," he said. "Coming from St. Louis and all the stuff that happened in the Ferguson area and all the things that have happened to me over the years, there hasn't been that much trust, but actually coming here and hearing the hearts of all the law enforcement people here is beginning to change my view of law enforcement now, which is good."
Williams recalled a time when he was a teenager. He said he was driving around with friends when he was pulled over by a police officer.
"We weren't speeding, we weren't drinking, but we were pulled over and asked if we had drugs in the car," he said. "We had to get out of the car; they searched the car, and we were on the side of the highway (wondering), 'Why is this happening?'"
Williams said he is a family man with an Master of Business Administration and a successful career. He hopes police will see him and other black men for who they are as men.
"It's not right that you're stopping me because I look a certain way or you think I fit in a particular profile," he said.
NW News on 07/20/2016