Kolender Admits Police Problem in Black Community

Police Chief Bill Kolender acknowledged Friday, the day after angry Southeast residents complained about police, that problems exist between the department and San Diego black community.

“I know there are strains between the black community and the police because of Sagon Penn and other things in general, and we’re working hard to improve relations,” Kolender said. “We do have problems, and I don’t mean to say we don’t. It’s evidenced by what the people are saying.”

Kolender’s comments mark an apparent change in his public position on how the police department is perceived by the minority community. He has consistently maintained that although some have accused police officers of insensitivity, it isn’t a widespread concern.

That notion, however, took a drubbing Thursday night during an intense and angry meeting in Encanto when about three dozen people--fortified by more than 200 others in the audience--told a special citizens advisory panel that good will and communication between the predominantly black community and police don’t exist.

The string of speakers told members of the Citizens Advisory Board on Police-Community Relations that the police department does not heed their complaints about officer misconduct and that officers generally are not visible in the area unless they are making an arrest.

Speakers complained that police sometimes treat Southeast residents as criminals, even when they are reporting crimes. One speaker declared that the community and police were “at war,” while another said the relations were “about on a par with Johannesburg.”

The meeting was the third in a series of eight to be held by the advisory board, which was created after 24-year-old Penn shot and killed one police officer and wounded another on March 31, 1985.

Witnesses to the shooting claimed that Penn, a black, started shooting only after he was stopped in Encanto by the white officers for no reason and was struck repeatedly with their night sticks.

A Superior Court jury in June found Penn innocent of murder and attempted murder, but the district attorney has vowed to retry him on lesser charges.

The incident prompted charges of police insensitivity by the black community and moved the City Council to appoint the citizens advisory panel, which is charged with finding out how the department can improve its community relations.

“I think there is a community relations problem in Southeast,” Murray Galinson, chairman of the panel and chief executive of San Diego National Bank, said Friday.

“If the public perceives there is a problem, there is a problem,” Galinson said.

Councilman Ed Struiksma, who attended Thursday night’s meeting at O’Farrell High School along with Councilman William Jones and Mayor Maureen O’Connor, said the intensity of the remarks made an impression on him.

“I had reason to believe that there were problems, but I didn’t think they were as bad as I see them now in light of last night’s meeting,” Struiksma said.

“My premise is this: The attitude a police officer has should be no different if you are in Southeast San Diego or downtown La Jolla or wherever you are,” said Struiksma, who was a police officer for nine years before turning to politics. “And I do believe there is an attitude by some officers in Southeast San Diego that should not be.”

Earlier in the day Friday, Kolender said he did not feel the same about the sentiment expressed by the Southeast community. The chief said criticism of the department was not “fair” and that he had detected no community-wide resentment of his department.

“If it is in the mind of some people, there is a problem,” Kolender said. “We recognize that there needs to be constant communication in Southeast.

“We believe we’re doing that, and basically the relationship between the people in Southeast and the police department is very good. The officers say that when they make contact, there is not a negative reaction,” said Kolender, echoing the comments he’s made throughout the Penn controversy.

When informed of Kolender’s comments, Kathy Rollins, executive director of the Black Federation, said she didn’t agree.

“For the chief to say there is no problem is a problem,” Rollins said. “This is why it goes around and around. He’s not giving validity to the opinion of the community, which exacerbates the problem and why I think some people called for his resignation last night.”

Several hours later, saying he had spoken to Rollins, Kolender said he didn’t want to leave the wrong impression and he acknowledged there were problems between the black community and his department.

Kolender stressed, however, the department is striving to improve the strained relations by taking action against police officers guilty of “misconduct.”

He said the force has supported the citizens advisory board, initiated its own human relations training and has appointed blacks in key administrative positions in Southeast.