BUCKING THE SYSTEM: ISSUES, INCIDENTS AND IDEAS WILL LESSEN HEAT'S INTENSITY

Tomorrow is June 20. That's Father's Day for many men, and to them I say congratulations.

But for those who didn't know, June 20 is also the first day of summer. That's the day many people can feel justified in turning down their air conditioners another notch to lessen the effects of the high temperatures.

Unfortunately, there's already a lot of heat floating around Cape Girardeau in the form of anger. If we don't do something to alleviate the high tempers very soon, somebody's going to get hurt before this summer is over.

I don't know what was said or done last Friday in the wee hours of the morning to precipitate the fracas between Cape police officers attempting to take two brothers into custody and several members of a large crowd who observed the scene.

What I do know is people from throughout the community are choosing sides regarding this incident based upon their experiences with the police, and those sides are on a direct path to verbal, then physical confrontation.

What happens next will determine if we reach that point.

After the incident, there were many accusations of racial epithets being used and malicious targeting of individuals by the police. Black residents, whether they were highly respected community members or members of the "criminal element" or somewhere in-between, began immediately retelling their past, negative interaction with police.

They told of how they don't feel respected by their local government or law enforcement, and said they did not want to interact with or have police officers in their neighborhoods who felt they had something to prove.

On the other hand, police and their supporters maintain they have only used appropriate levels of aggressive policing and are not using racial slurs, verbal or physical abuse towards people being arrested.

Police are only unwanted in the neighborhood by people who may be doing wrong. Policing is necessary, and wrongdoers shouldn't be pulling the race card to get out of this, they said.

See, the problem with either side of this issue is people aren't listening to each other. The police seem to believe anybody with a negative incident to relate must be a member of the "criminal element."

Not true. There are some good, law-abiding people, a group I include myself in, that have witnessed some police interaction with black Americans locally and throughout the nation that was not above the board.

We don't condemn all police officers, but we are wary of supporting them when they don't even try to listen to complaints or make an effort to improve relations.

And as to those complaining, are you listening to what the officers are saying? If they did pull out and work only in the elite neighborhoods, I for one would assume they were forsaking the south side to whomever wanted to take control. That's when I would worry about the criminal element they keep referring to.

It's also a sad reality that elected officials and law enforcement officers listen primarily to the people that vote. The situation locally has a little bit to do with race, but everything to do with economics. The voters and financially secure have the power, and until you show that you actually outnumber them and do have substantive ideas that would improve our community, you will be ignored.

So the fact is we have to get beyond our past positive or negative incidents with each other and get to the real issues. We also need to come up with some good ideas that can be enacted.

First of all, police officers need to undergo cultural diversity training -- including ethnic and economic diversity -- soon. Residents of the city should be invited to participate.

Officers also are going to have to start listening to what residents are saying and take all complaints at face value. Some complaints will prove correct, on others they will be vindicated. But they still need to listen with open minds from all people and go from there.

The citizens advisory panel will help in this regard, but the police department shouldn't rely upon them to do all the listening.

The police want South Side residents to work with them to create a Neighborhood Watch program, thereby allowing residents to police their neighborhood. It's not a bad idea and should be implemented by the people who can do it.

What happens in the wake of last week's incident will define race relations in this community. The South Side was trying to reinvent itself in recent months, but that's been halted because we've got a mountain to climb.

I think we all need to strap on our boots, say a fervent prayer and start getting over this obstacle. We need to look at the incidents, consider the issues and come up with some ideas that will improve, not hinder, our progress.