An Instructive Resolution

The back-and-forth over the police handcuffing of an African American Episcopal priest in Canoga Park highlights the deep divisions and suspicions that linger among the San Fernando Valley’s increasingly diverse population. But the honest and open way in which the unfortunate incident was resolved earlier this month provides hope that differences can be bridged.

In January, Los Angeles Police officers from the West Valley Division handcuffed and detained the Rev. Ronald D. Culmer as they investigated a robbery at a fast-food restaurant near the St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church. Culmer was on the grounds of the church and was wearing full vestments when police ordered him to his knees and handcuffed him.

The full story makes the incident more understandable. The two men suspected of robbing the restaurant had run onto the church grounds, which also hosts a preschool and elementary school. Culmer had just finished celebrating a Eucharist when he walked outside and saw one of the robbery suspects run to a nearby church building. He was confronting the suspect when officers arrived with guns drawn. They ordered Culmer and the robbery suspect to put up their hands. But Culmer did not think the officers were talking to him so he backed away. After he complied with orders to drop to his knees, Culmer was handcuffed. Culmer estimated he was cuffed for about two minutes before police released him.

Understandable.

Standard procedure for a robbery in which suspects are believed to be armed.

But what upset Culmer was that officers did not apologize to him.

The dispute boiled for several days earlier this month as Culmer and LAPD officials offered differing accounts of what happened. The exchanges were sometimes tense and often uncomfortable as allegations of racism bubbled to the surface. As unpleasant as those conversations may have been, they were productive and instructive. In the end, Deputy Chief Michael J. Bostic issued a frank apology, saying: “From time to time, in our rush to do police work, we embarrass people and it’s never our intention to do that. If the reverend was humiliated by what occurred, I don’t blame him.”

Those words are clear, and Culmer said he was “very pleased” by the department’s apology. He also acknowledged that police officials had tried to make things right weeks earlier but that “sometimes in the heat of the moment--certainly when emotions rise--things aren’t necessarily always heard.”

Even so, the fact remains that thousands of African American and Latino residents in Los Angeles believe that Culmer’s treatment was indicative of a police force that views people of color as suspects. Despite the commendable efforts of the LAPD to hire officers who look like the city they serve and to train street cops in dealing with an increasingly diverse public, the stereotype of a racist department refuses to die.

Incidents like Culmer’s cuffing and detention keep it alive. But the apologetic response that followed reveals a department that, at the very least, is trying to do better.