St. Petersburg Violence Seen as a Continuation of a Trend

Until the recent violence here, “we were known as the land of the newly wed and nearly dead,” said Sevell C. Brown III, president of the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference chapter. “After this happened, people would say, ‘I didn’t even know you had black people in St. Pete.’ ”

For years this city on Florida’s west coast has been known as a hotbed of tranquillity. Then on Oct. 24, after one of the city’s young black residents was shot and killed by a white police officer, the predominantly black South Side erupted in arson and looting. Three weeks later, a grand jury’s decision not to indict the officer led to more rioting that included gunfire directed at police and firefighters.

Overnight, it seemed, sedate St. Pete’s good name had become a code word for the black-white divide. As black leaders called for a summit on law enforcement, President Clinton dispatched a federal task force. After a two-day visit, Housing Secretary Henry G. Cisneros on Monday proposed a $20-million package of employment and education grants while commenting that he was stunned by the polarization he found here. “It was surprising to me how unaware many white leaders are on this point,” he added.

Although St. Petersburg may appear an unlikely place for an examination of relations between police and minority communities, the core problem is not unique, new or confined to Florida. The problem is racism and its perception.

In Pittsburgh, Pa., this month, an all-white jury acquitted a white officer in the 1995 suffocation death of black motorist Jonny Gammage, cousin of Steelers football player Ray Seals. In Indianapolis, some white officers who had been drinking are being investigated for shouting racial epithets and beating a black motorist in August.

Last week Boston’s Northeastern University released a study that found the number of riots in the nation rose by 33% from 1994 to 1995, and that nine of the 21 disturbances examined were ignited by an act perceived to be racist. The cities found to be most riot-prone: Miami, Indianapolis, Los Angeles and New York.

“What’s happening in St. Pete is a microcosm of what’s happening nationwide,” Brown said. “There are those in law enforcement having trouble dealing with a multiethnic population, and--spurred on by messages from . . . radio talk show hosts--they are trying to turn back the clock on civil rights.”

Perhaps no one was more surprised by the depth of the anger and frustration here than Police Chief Darrel W. Stephens, who was hired four years ago to improve relations between cops and the black community. And with his liberal attitudes and a program of community policing, Stephens thought he was making progress.

“Regular surveys of the community suggested that through contacts with neighborhood associations and crime watches, relationships have improved,” Stephens said. “Everywhere you look you see examples of police officers working in concert with the community. I don’t think I have a full explanation for what’s happened. I’m trying to sort that out myself.”

Stephens is under attack from all sides. After the grand jury decision not to indict Officer James Knight for shooting TyRon Lewis, Stephens suspended Knight for 60 days for violating arrest procedures. That angered many officers and nonblack citizens.

Decisions Stephens made during the riots also have drawn fire. Black leaders fault him for arresting activists; white City Council members say he should have cracked down harder. “He’s lost touch with reality on the streets and what his officers deal with every day,” said Jack Soule, president of the Police Benevolent Assn.

“It does not come as a surprise to me that we have employees in our department or society with racist views,” Stephens said. “It would be naive to believe it doesn’t exist. I think we’ve sent a clear message that those views are not appropriate, but people still act on them.”

Where to now?

“I guess I’m in a position now of staying the course,” Stephens said. “We have to go back out, reestablish contacts in the neighborhoods and rebuild the relationships. . . . We’ve got to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and respond to criticisms leveled at the department.”