Protesters’ good ideas showed up in new police contract. Drop the charges against them.
It took two long and — at times acrimonious —years, but Lexington’s new contract with the Fraternal Order of Police appears to satisfy demands on both sides of the issue.
Police will get better starting pay, along with increases and $5,000 COVID “hero pay” bonuses to help recruit more officers. At the same time, police reform advocates will get two civilian members of the police’s internal disciplinary review board for the first time ever. In addition, the contract will allow disciplinary reviews to include all of an officer’s past complaints. The previous contract limited any review to five years.
This contract — which is scheduled to get a first vote on Tuesday afternoon — is a good resolution to a tumultuous time that began with the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd at the hands of police, one that recognizes the role of police in the community while also bringing much-needed reforms.
But before we sing Kumbaya, we must ask why the Fayette County Attorney’s office is still so intent on punishing some of the people who introduced these ideas, and then marched night after night in the summer of 2020 to bring them to Lexington’s notice? Protesters like Sarah Williams and April Taylor organized peaceful protests that led to the Mayor appointing the Commission on Racial Justice and Equality, who further articulated the work needed to be done.
Taylor said recently that five of the major policies they protested for have been implemented through the contract and elsewhere:
▪ The addition of civilians to the police disciplinary review board;
▪ The unlimited time for review of police officer discipline records;
▪ The use of body cameras for all police officers;
▪ The ban on the use of no-knock warrants;
▪ The expansion of the hours for the the citizen’s advocate to help people file formal and informal complaints with the Lexington Police Department.
Instead of saying thank you to Taylor and Williams and their group, the County Attorney’s office is preparing for jury trials on charges of second-degree disorderly conduct, inciting a riot and resisting arrest. Taylor and Williams certainly insulted police during the protests, but are greatly responsible for the near total lack of violence, as opposed to other cities.
In Louisville, where the violence in Black Lives Matter protests was much more severe, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell in October dropped felony and misdemeanor charges against state Rep. Attica Scott and a group of 15 others who were protesting with her one night.
“Prosecutors have a higher duty than other lawyers to be ministers of justice and not just an advocate,” said spokesman Josh Abner. “This means we must always seek the truth and act upon it, rather than seek a victory in court. Our independent review of these cases demonstrates this responsibility.”
Taylor and Williams believe the continued charges are punishment from the power structure for continuing to push for change. “On some level, they feel they can criminalize us as angry Black women using edited body camera footage,” Taylor said. “The truth is we had very legitimate demands.”
County Attorney Larry Roberts said Tuesday that he would not be pressured by the Herald-Leader or Black faith leaders who have urged him to drop the charges.
“I don’t go by what other places do or what Black ministers tell me to do,” he said.
“These two women have no respect for the police,” he said of Taylor and Williams. “Many, many peaceful people were there and we didn’t do anything to them. If police charge them, I’m going to prosecute them.”
This law and order attitude may play with some voters, but it is an unconvincing argument that yelling at police should end up in a costly jury trial.
In contrast to the progress that’s being made by city officials, these charges by police and prosecution by Roberts’ office look petty. Once again, we urge Roberts to drop the charges against the Black Lives Matter protesters who did important and necessary work on the city’s behalf.
