South Dade Rallies for Trayvon Martin

South Dade Rallies for Trayvon Martin 

Story and photographs by José Pérez

A small but vocal group of people concerned about the outcome of the George Zimmerman trial congregated at an empty lot at the intersection of US 1 and SW 200 Street in Cutler Ridge last Saturday, not realizing that the verdict was several hours from being announced.  Zimmerman was on trial in Sanford, Florida, accused of murdering Miami Gardens teenager, Trayvon Martin who was visiting his father in February 2012.

Wearing white “I am Trayvon Martin” t-shirts, the group of about 20 people stood on both sides of police barricades erected by Miami-Dade P

olice officers who maintained a discreet yet noticeable presence, holding signs and chanting the same slogan.  

Patricia Smith, a grandmother who lives just a few blocks from the site of the rally, was one of the the volunteers.  “This is my first time doing something like this.”   She was motivated to come out on a warm afternoon, she said, by “a mother’s love.”

Ron Fulton, uncle of Trayvon Martin, made the approximately 45 mile drive from Miami Gardens to join the rally.   “These people didn’t have to be out here,” Fulton said. “That’s what brings me out here.”

The event was scheduled a few weeks ago, before anyone had any idea that the trial would go to the jury that same weekend, said Johnny Macon, one of the organizers. “We are promoting nonviolence,” said Macon, regardless of the outcome of the trial.  “We want everyone to be peaceful.”

 “I hope [that] there won’t be violence,” said Enid Demps of Goulds as walked along US 1 holding a handmade sign that read “JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON.”

At a Miami-Dade Police Department briefing conducted about an hour and a half before the event started, uniformed and plainclothes police officers under a tent as they outlined plans for the event.  Although plans for the imminent verdict were made by MDPD months earlier, no adjustments or additional mobilizations to the regular staffing for the area were announced.   Although a police helicopter buzzed overhead just as the demonstration was beginning and some police officers were seen walking from a mobile command post each holding handfuls of plastic twist ties typically used to cuff people in lieu of traditional handcuffs, the mood in the air was far from hostile.  In fact, some officers even joined in a group prayer led by Alphonso Jackson, Sr, Pastor at Richmond Heights’ Second Baptist Church. 

Fulton was asked by the media about the possibility of violence in response to a not guilty verdict for Zimmerman.   He dismissed such a premise.  “At the onset of this, there was no violence so why would there be any now?”

Macon said that the mindset for all of those participating was what he hoped would echo throughout Miami-Dade County: “be angry but sin not.”

As long-time Miami activist Renita Holmes led a slowly growing number of rally participants in chants in favor of “No justice, no peace!” car horns honked in support of the placards and exhortations for solidarity. 

Macon said that there would be “no need for a demonstration with a guilty verdict” for Zimmerman.  He added if there was no verdict announced today, any future demonstrations would be held at nearby Goulds Park, just a mile or two away, in keeping with existing plans set up by Miami-Dade County.

For those present, the death of Martin and the attention paid to the trial “absolutely” could bring about positive changes in the community, said Fulton.   “We’re trying to stand our ground,” said Macon. “We want everyone to be fair.”

"County Gets Set for Trayvon Verdict"

"County Gets Set for Trayvon Verdict"
story & fotos by José Pérez

MIAMI – With the murder trial for George Zimmerman, accused of killing Miami Gardens teenager Trayvon Martin in Sanford in 2012, due to begin in just over two months in Seminole County, officials in Miami-Dade County are preparing for possible trouble in the event that a not-guilty verdict is handed down.

As part of the preparation, the Miami-Dade County Community Relations Board (CRB) and Miami-Dade Youth Commission hosted a youth summit March 28 to “promote non-violence.”  

Held in the chambers of the Miami-Dade Commission in the Stephen P. Clark Government Center in downtown Miami, the meeting’s goal was “taking action to empower and protect our youth and our community in response to the Trayvon Martin court case.”  

The organizers scree-ned news footage of the 1980 upheaval that greeted the not-guilty verdicts handed down in a Tampa courtroom against four county police officers accused of manslaughter and evidence tampering following the beating death of Arthur McDuffie.

“We don’t need Miami rioting regardless of the outcome of this trial,” said the Rev. Dr. Walter Richardson, chairman of the CRB. He co-chaired the meeting with Jude Bruno, chairman of the Youth Commission.

Attorney Ed Shohat, a panelist along with Richardson and Bruno and other members of the Youth Commission, discussed judicial proceedings in a criminal trial. He said the primary focus of the criminal justice system is protection of law-abiding citizens.

“We’d rather have the guilty go free than the innocent go to prison,” Shohat said.

County Commissioner Xavier Saurez said rumor control is paramount and he encouraged the community to “get accurate facts” about the trial, set to begin on June 10, and its outcome.

Suarez, a former mayor of Miami, acknowledged that “there’s always a level of community unrest and dissatisfaction” but added that many of the causes, such as high youth unemployment among African Americans, can be addressed through Miami-Dade’s financial resources which include a $6.2 billion annual capital operating budget.

Delma Noel-Pratt, chief of the Miami-Dade Police Department’s North Operations Division, said her department’s action plan includes an “Incident Management Team.”

The Miami-Dade Police Department has been communicating with counterparts in Seminole County, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, she said.  The “interdepartmental exchange of information” has included discussions about strategies and tactics and has led to officials in Seminole County creating their own Community Relations Board.

The county police action plan has involved training sessions and identifying “areas of concern” or potential areas of protest, Noel-Pratt said.  

The department, she said, is most concerned about both North Miami-Dade and South Miami-Dade but, she added, “we can’t really narrow down or identify one particular place so the Plan of Action is for both ends of the county.”  

That means, she said, that there will be command posts in both the northern and southern ends of the county, with a “visible” presence of uniformed officers, as well as an unspecified number of “undercover officers.”

Noel-Pratt said the main purpose for and guiding principle of her department’s planning related to the Zimmerman trial “is to have peace.”

“We’re hoping that, no matter the verdict, there will be peace,” she said.

Nannette Badger, a Miami-Dade County Public Schools officer, said her agency’s planning includes the fact that schools will be on vacation when the trial starts June 10 so no student demonstrations are anticipated.  

Lina Rojas of the Youth Commission had a plea to law enforcement agencies as they plan for the aftermath of the trial and call for peace.   “We ask that the police lead by example,” Rojas said, adding that many times the line between peace and heavy-handedness “gets blurred.”  

Noel-Pratt responded by emphasizing that the Miami-Dade Police Department’s action plan puts priority on “interpersonal skills.”

Shohat said the summit’s purpose was to promote nonviolence, “not to repeat the mistakes of the past.”  

 To achieve that, Richardson said, it is vital that the community “help us get the word out (about)an action plan that will inform.”

'A Unique Aspect' - An Interview with MDPD’s Director Patterson

'A Unique Aspect' - An Interview with MDPD’s Director Patterson

story & fotos by José Pérez

In the Social Work Dictionary, Dr. Robert Barker defines resiliency as “the human capacity … to deal with crises, stressors, and normal experiences in an emotionally and physically healthy way.”   That definition seems be embodied in the person of Miami-Dade Police Department Director J. D. Patterson.   Exhibiting resilience and channeling it into excellence has served Patterson well, dating back to long before he began his 28 year career with one of the United States’ largest police departments. 

“I was brought up in a violent family,” Patterson shared with no hesitation during an interview at MDPD’s headquarters in Doral.  “I come from a dysfunctional background – still do as a matter of fact,” said Patterson, who is the only person in his immediate family to have graduated from high school.   That dysfunction was so much a part of Patterson’s life growing up in Brownsville that his first research paper was a report he wrote on alcoholism – as a fifth grader.

Indeed, that “effective coping style” that Barker says is resilience allowed Patterson develop a keen awareness of human beings and how they express their needs which explains a lot about his approach to law enforcement.  “I realized that violence was not very productive,” said Patterson who described himself as someone who “would have been [labeled as] ‘at-risk’” as child growing up in Miami. 

Patterson, however, made no apologies about his experiences.  In fact, he seems to embrace them.   “It makes my empathy a little stronger,” said Patterson, “especially towards children.” 

Because he sees both physical and verbal violence as “destructive to everything,” Patterson said that “violence is not acceptable at any time.”   Patterson recognizes the “emotional nature of violence” and the universal human emotion of anger but there are alternatives to violent expressions of anger.  “We all get mad,” commented Patterson, “but if they don’t want to talk about a problem, they should go to jail” if people resort to violence.

Patterson is not, however, a proponent of an exclusively punitive approach to law enforcement.   “I see crime as a symptom, an indication of a problem,” said Patterson, who added that “violence is our greatest problem.”  He is particularly concerned about violent crimes among Miami-Dade County’s youth.   “We have to break the cycle” of violence, said Patterson.

Patterson spoke about alternatives to violent expressions of emotion such as organized sports programs and professional therapeutic interventions.  He also mentioned plans to organize town hall meetings to explore and discuss different resources for alternatives to violence in the community.

Still, Patterson’s window for getting things started under his watch is a small one.  He had already submitted his paperwork for retirement when he was named acting director to replace outgoing director James Loftus last autumn (“I was hoping he’d stay longer,” said Patterson of his predecessor).   “I’m not going to be here forever,” said Patterson who is scheduled to retire in three years.  Patterson added, that “the reality is that the department needs to start developing young future leaders,” especially with so many of his colleagues that started with him during a hiring boom in the early 1980’s will retiring with him. 

With a finite period of time before he, too, must ride off into the sunset, is there someone in the Department’s current ranks that can successfully

succeed Patterson?  “I want to believe that,” replied Patterson.    “I think that some leaders are born and some leaders are made.” 

Who could that future director be?  Patterson was too focused on the tasks before him to even begin to speculate on who that might be but he did speak of an interesting possibility for Miami-Dade County.   Describing himself as “the right man at the right time,” Patterson added that he thinks that “there will be a right woman at the right time.”

“Miami-Dade’s time is coming.”

Given the time he has to do his job as director, Patterson’s sense of urgency to get involved and make progress appears to dovetail with the community’s hurry to address pressing issues of crime and violence.   “I’ve been an intervener all of my life,” said Patterson who is also a minister as well as a cop. “It is a unique aspect to what I do.”

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