In West Palm Beach, a Tyre Nichols town hall with police focuses on trust, reform and grief

West Palm Beach Police Chief Frank Adderley answered resident questions for more than an hour during a town hall meeting Tuesday night at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church.

The town hall was organized as shock and pain reverberated through Black communities across the country that are — again — wondering what can be done to prevent incidents like what happened in Memphis, where police officers beat to death a 29-year old, unarmed motorist named Tyre Nichols during a traffic stop on Jan. 7.

The five officers who beat Nichols have been fired and charged with second-degree murder. But the video of Nichols' brutal beating has triggered a new round of questions about why such killings continue.

On Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the funeral of the man who was a father, FedEx worker and avid skateboarder.

Locally, about 100 people attended Tuesday night's town hall at New Bethel in West Palm Beach's largely Black Northwest community. State Sen. Bobby Powell, D-West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach city council member Douglas Lawson, West Palm Beach commission member Christy Fox and former city commission member Richard Ryles were among the current and former officials who attended.

"I think this is a good occasion for people who have questions about how we conduct ourselves as the West Palm Beach Police Department," said Adderley, who had nearly 40 years of experience in law enforcement when he was named chief in 2019.

The chief did not try to justify the actions of the Memphis police officers who beat Nichols.

"I think we all agree it appears to be excessive use of force," he said. "It appears a crime has been committed, and they'll have their day in court."

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Residents who attended the meeting peppered Adderley with questions about how his department can build more trust with Black community members.

Their questions at a hastily organized meeting on a Tuesday night underscored the confusion and pain left in the wake of Nichols' killing.

The town hall won't be the only opportunity for Black community members to express their grief over Nichols' death.

A rally is scheduled to be held at 4:15 p.m. Sunday at the parking lot of New Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church, at 748 W. Ninth St. in Riviera Beach.

New Macedonia's pastor, former Riviera Beach Mayor Thomas Masters, is expected to unveil a parking stoop painted in Nichols' honor.

In 2020, the year national protests erupted after the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, New Macedonia had "Black Lives Matter" painted on its parking lot in large, yellow lettering.

The symbolic acts and protests have not stopped the deaths of young Black Americans, whose videotaped killings have developed a macabre moniker — trauma porn.

Some Black Americans, aware of the history of Black lynchings as community events that drew large crowds, refuse to watch video of their fellow Black Americans being killed.

Within Black communities, can a long history of distrust for police be changed?

Adderley, who is Black, noted some other difficult history Tuesday night — the formation of police departments to chase down runaway slaves.

"This is the group of people that was used to track down slaves that were escaping," Adderley said. "It was police that did that. The trust is not there because of the history of that relationship."

Ricky Aiken, co-founder of Inner City Innovators, a West Palm Beach community group set up to create opportunities for young people and combat gun violence, said Black distrust of law enforcement is understandable, given its history and its current posture toward Black youth.

"There's a general contempt and distrust and rightly so," Aiken said of how many young Black people feel about police. "I feel we lay the blame at the feet of a community that has no reason to trust law enforcement."

The Rev. R.C. Miller Jr. of Real Crusaders International Ministry in West Palm Beach said he wants to see Black community members take more responsibility for crimes that can lead to confrontation with police.

"I'm very upset," he said. "Every time I look on the news, it's a Black kid laying in the street. It's a crying shame. We need to do better as a Black community."

West Palm Beach resident Frank Eddie surmised that law enforcement has a sort of chase response that's triggered when a suspect attempts to flee.

"When you run, they're gonna chase," he said. "Why are they running away? It makes it worse when you run away."

Many in the audience, however, quickly shouted to Eddie that Black suspects or motorists sometimes run away from police because they are afraid they'll be the next Taylor, the next Floyd or the next Nichols.

Police chief to Black community: Help us help you keep your neighborhood safe

Adderley said he understands that fear but called on Black residents to reach out to him and his department to report crimes, some of which could be solved if witnesses were more willing to come forward and relay what they've seen or heard.

The chief said West Palm Beach has somewhere between 150 and 160 unsolved murders since 2015. For many of those murders, Adderley said, there's a resident out there who can come forward and report information that would lead to an arrest.

"We need to have a relationship to reduce crime," Adderley said. "We've got to work hard to build trust in this neighborhood so we can work together to solve crime."

Adderley noted that, in too many instances, his officers will make an arrest only to see that person released from jail.

He told audience members that, in August, his officers confiscated 58 guns, 32 of which had been in the possession of convicted felons, who are barred from having them.

"We took them away from them," Adderley said. "We lock them up, and, the next day, they're walking the streets."

Adderley said he wants judges to be tougher on criminal suspects, a relatively small number of whom are responsible for scores of crimes in West Palm Beach.

Craig Lawson, a criminal-defense attorney, said one way to address both crime and police misconduct is for residents to use their cellphones to record what they see happening around them.

"Here's the No. 1 tool," he said, holding up his own cellphone. "You see a crime happen, you make a recording. Call the chief. I tell people, 'If you see blue lights come on in our community, your phone should come out.' A thousand dollars for these darn things. Use them for something other than social media."

Adderley's presence at the town hall meeting drew praise from audience members and elected officials.

"I think it was valuable," Fox said. "Any time the community can get together and hear different ideas and different perspectives, that's a good thing. I appreciate the chief taking the time."

Powell agreed.

"I think it was useful," he said of the meeting. "This was just one of the steps that people have to take to be visible, to be transparent. (Adderley) didn't have all the answers, but he was here to listen."

Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com and follow him on Twitter @waynewashpbpost. Help support our work; subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tyre Nichols' death reaches West Palm Beach