Question: How Can Salisbury Ease Tension?

By Karen Alexander

While many of us have heavy hearts and feelings of uneasiness surrounding the events we have witnessed in communities too close to us for comfort, I wanted to share with you just how committed I and all of Council, as well as the City Manager Lane Bailey, Police Chief Jerry Stokes and the rest of the city staff are about improving relations in our community.

Salisbury has its share of challenges. No one, including myself, will deny that problems exist in our city. We have heard from our citizens and we know that change is paramount if we are going to move Salisbury forward. We all need to be on the same page if we are truly dedicated to working towards solutions and not just rhetoric. I appreciate that the Council and the management team have developed a number of initiatives and outreach in an attempt to address some of these concerns.

To begin, last year the city manager identified community policing and the 21st century policing model as a top priority for the new police chief. While he has only been in Salisbury for a little more than eight weeks, Chief Stokes, a 30-year law enforcement veteran, brings new perspectives and insights to our city. He has already begun to implement some of those policing model strategies in his short time here.

Chief Stokes has promoted Lt. J.J. Wilkerson to the position of community relations liaison. Lt. Wilkerson has 20 years of experience in law enforcement, and is a Rowan County resident from birth. While he has been honored many times for his outstanding performance as an officer, he is respected for being fair, for listening and has ties to our area. He is also known as an advocate for citizens seeking his help. Lt. Wilkerson’s duties will include “developing the department’s strategic plan for enhancing community trust,” through community relationship building and partnerships.

Another important initiative Chief Stokes is pursuing is a request of the U.S. Department of Justice for assistance from the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services’ Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance. Through this program, the Salisbury Police Department will undergo a thorough internal examination to identify any issues affecting public trust. Part of the analysis is to hear directly from the citizens their concerns through community interviews. Those who truly want to see change in our community are encouraged to participate should we be named a successful Reform Initiative locality.

Following the assessment, a report with the findings and recommendations of how to resolve any issues through best practices in policing will be shared with the public. Ultimately this program is the “gold standard” in terms of assessing and implementing long-term strategies from a nationally recognized organization.

Next, all city staff members are completing mandatory, diversity and harassment training sessions with a noted human relations consultant. How we interact with our residents and our neighbors starts at “home.” It is our hope that these training sessions continue and lead to a greater, stronger conversation about embracing our differences.

Finally, I am proud of all of the community work and leadership of all our Council. Mayor Pro Tem Maggie Blackwell has served on the Housing Commission, liaison to the Youth Council, and Planning Board for decades, including tutoring students at Knox Middle School and Overton Elementary years before and since serving on City Council.

Councilman Brian Miller has served on DSI, Salisbury Rowan Tourism Board and Planning Board for over 20 years.

Councilman Kenny Hardin has been working with neighborhood groups such as The Chamber, The Night Crawlers and others for 25 years, and co-founded Tsunami, a literacy and leadership group focused on improving student performance in the Rowan Salisbury School System.

Councilman David Post has served on Human Relations Commission, Planning Board and Historic Salisbury Foundation, and has started a non-profit the Center for Access to Justice to provide free legal advice for citizens unable to pay.

For more that 25 years, I have worked in this community to promote inclusion and opportunity for all. Since being elected mayor, I have worked with the Rowan Chamber of Commerce to create and champion a Minority Business Council, which already has over 20 attendees.

Also, from the first week, after being sworn in as mayor, I began meeting with members of the faith community, civic groups and non-profit community groups who are doing the hard work of providing services to alleviate socioeconomic and racial tensions. Through these meetings, I have seen firsthand a commitment to justice and peace for all of our citizens.

Even with all these efforts, we know change will not happen overnight. The cultures, policies and programs that contributed to the current situation did not happen overnight. But, myself, members of City Council and staff, are ready to make our community safer, stronger and wiser. Won’t you join us?