{"id":82656,"date":"2016-11-14T12:00:17","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=82656"},"modified":"2016-11-07T20:06:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-07T20:06:00","slug":"the-bear-clan-patrol-and-community-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2016\/11\/the-bear-clan-patrol-and-community-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"The Bear Clan Patrol and Community Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"

7 Nov 2016 – <\/em>In recent years, the ubiquity of cell phone cameras has revealed how frequently police officers in the United States kill people who are unarmed and\/or running away, struggling to breathe, begging for mercy.\u00a0 Statistical analysis shows that black men are disproportionately targeted, no matter the quality of the neighborhood.\u00a0 Video clips, street rallies, and national anthem protests have brought nationwide attention to this issue\u2014only issue<\/em> is the wrong word.\u00a0 Non-defensive police homicides are a horror, and attention to horror is not enough.\u00a0 We need solutions.<\/p>\n

Many residents, especially outside of wealthy communities, have ambivalent attitudes toward police departments.\u00a0 They want cops to protect them from violent crime, yet fear and resent police harassment.\u00a0 What can concerned citizens do?\u00a0 Protests can raise awareness and publicize demands for police accountability.\u00a0 With sufficient public pressure, elected officials might promote departmental reforms.\u00a0 But which reforms are most promising?\u00a0 How can insular police culture be changed?<\/p>\n

Outfitting street cops with body cameras\u2014the current \u201cfix\u201d\u2014doesn\u2019t address prosecutor-police affinity, cop-friendly judges and jurors, and the racist assumptions found throughout the judicial system that, collectively, protect dangerous cops, even those caught on tape.\u00a0 Compulsory body cameras may seem a mild demand, yet can still be politically problematic, as seen recently in Portland, Oregon.\u00a0 In negotiating a new contract with the police union, the mayor and city council agreed to limitations on use of body-camera footage for oversight.\u00a0 Then, directed by the mayor, police violently forced members of a group called Don\u2019t Shoot Portland out of city hall rather than allow them to comment.<\/p>\n

Is there a better approach than pressuring elected officials to negotiate superficial reforms with police unions?\u00a0 Productive dialogue with police chiefs and successful persuasion of mayors and city council members, while necessary, is insufficient to transform the racial tensions, community divisions, and militarized mindsets that contribute to savagery in uniform.\u00a0 Concerned citizens should consider creating alternative models of community protection.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Winnipeg, Manitoba, is home to the largest urban population of Indigenous people in Canada, and many live in depressed North End neighborhoods.\u00a0 Median household income in the North End is significantly lower than for Winnipeg in general.\u00a0 Crime rates are relatively high.\u00a0 The Red River and an enormous rail yard separate the North End from the rest of the city, making it sometimes seem a world unto itself.<\/p>\n

When James Favel, a trucker and former bouncer, bought his North End home, in 2009, he recalls, \u201cThere was a crack dealer across the street, a john who lived next to the crack dealer, and prostitution on the corner of the street.\u201d\u00a0 In 2014, after the murder of a 15-year-old Indigenous girl named Tina Fontaine, Favel decided that he could either sit home watching television or do something to protect his community.\u00a0 \u201cThe callous way her body was discarded in the Red River and the complete lack of respect,\u201d Favel said, \u201cthat was the last straw for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The following year, he and a few other North End residents reintroduced the Bear Clan Patrol, a community safety group previously active in the early 1990s.\u00a0 They began with a handful of volunteers walking the streets on weekend evenings, handing out condoms, picking up used needles, checking alleys and under bridges for people in distress.\u00a0 \u201cNon-policing issues,\u201d Favel calls them.\u00a0 The group\u2019s mandate, he said, is \u201cto protect the women and children, the elderly, and the vulnerable members of our community.\u201d\u00a0 They are particularly concerned about \u201cjohns\u201d\u2014men who drive into the North End looking to exploit young women.\u00a0 The volunteers jot down license plate numbers to give to the police and try to discourage girls from turning to prostitution.<\/p>\n

The Bear Clan Patrol comes out of traditional governance systems in the region.\u00a0 Different clans had different roles, and the Bear Clan was responsible for security and medicine.\u00a0 Clan members would make sure the elderly had firewood and the young were fed.\u00a0 They patrolled the village, kept the bears and wolves out.\u00a0 While Favel is the public face of the current Bear Clan Patrol, he emphasizes the leadership role of Indigenous women on the governing council.<\/p>\n

Indigenous values also hold that everyone is part of the community and deserves safety and support, not just long-time residents or \u201cmodel\u201d citizens, not just homeowners.\u00a0 For the current Bear Clan Patrol, this means expanding their activities as they discover more community members in need.\u00a0 The volunteers assist vulnerable people\u2014homeless, suicidal, intoxicated\u2014and withhold judgment.\u00a0 They hand out food and use social media to organize donation drives of clothing and furniture.\u00a0 They try to resolve conflicts before police and child welfare services have reason to intervene.<\/p>\n

At first, Favel recalls, \u201cpeople thought we were nuts and they kind of stayed away from us.\u201d\u00a0 But the volunteers in fluorescent safety vests kept talking to community members, building connections, making it clear they were out to help, not intimidate or punish.\u00a0 Patrol members carry flashlights and walkie-talkies, but no weapons.\u00a0 They don\u2019t arrest people, don\u2019t enter homes uninvited.\u00a0 They don\u2019t expand their patrols into neighborhoods until they have established relationships with residents and received an invitation.\u00a0 Their method is nonviolence.\u00a0 Their spirit is compassion.\u00a0 As word got out, more volunteers joined the patrols, and people on the street now greet them with smiles, gratitude, and congratulations.<\/p>\n

A major turning point for the Bear Clan Patrol came in February, 2016, when they quietly joined the search for Cooper Nemeth, a popular teenager who had disappeared from a party and later was found murdered.\u00a0 Though Nemeth lived on the other side of the Red River and was not Indigenous, Bear Clan volunteers put in many hours looking for him, then hosted a healing ceremony for the family and hundreds of mourners.\u00a0 \u201cWith the Bear Clan, the feeling is utter and complete gratefulness,\u201d Brent Nemeth said.\u00a0 \u201cThey\u2019re doing their own thing and out of nowhere they come and help my son, help find my son.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like many others, Mr. Nemeth noted how the Bear Clan Patrol was changing Winnipeg race relations.\u00a0 \u201cEmotionally, it was a tipping point for me.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to explain.\u00a0 Ultimately, the Bear Clan, they are the one breaking down borders in this city.\u201d\u00a0 Favel agrees, despite his sadness over several missing persons searches.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s going on now is turning the standard negative stereotypes of Indigenous people in Winnipeg on its head.\u00a0 There\u2019s been nothing but negativity coming out of the North End for the last\u2026forever.\u00a0 And to have that change now is fantastic.\u00a0 We\u2019re getting positive messages out nationally and potentially worldwide.\u201d\u00a0 The Bear Clan Patrol has a policy manual which they share when other communities ask for advice. \u00a0Requests have come from across Canada, and similar patrol groups have emerged in at least four other cities.\u00a0 Please visit www.facebook.com\/BearClanPatrol\/.<\/p>\n

The most recent news from the Bear Clan Patrol is a partnership with Winnipeg police.\u00a0 Relations had been awkward, as the police are generally skeptical of untrained community patrols, and Bear Clan volunteers were hesitant to side with police against North End residents, including gang members.\u00a0 But police officers have begun participating in the evening patrols for mutual benefit.\u00a0 \u201cMaybe were legitimize each other a little bit,\u201d Favel suggested.\u00a0 Police authority is particularly important for addressing sex traffickers.\u00a0 \u201cFor our continued success, we require them.\u00a0 Bottom line, if we have them working with us instead of against us, we\u2019re way ahead.\u201d\u00a0 Constable Jeff Boehm agreed, \u201cJoining in a collaborative effort with them only enhances our visibility.\u201d<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

The Bear Clan Patrol is, in a word, Gandhian.\u00a0 Mohandas Gandhi is probably best known for leading political campaigns of mass civil disobedience and noncooperation intended to end British colonial rule over India.\u00a0 However, he placed greater value on his \u201cConstructive Programme\u201d: cultivating nonviolent, self-sufficient, inclusive, non-exploitative communities, or ashrams, as an alternative to colonial dependency.\u00a0 He hoped the British colonists would see the superiority of what he considered \u201cIndian civilization\u201d and join it.<\/p>\n

The Bear Clan Patrol fits with the \u201cConstructive Programme.\u201d\u00a0 Patrol volunteers are offering an alternative model of community protection beyond the auspices of the imperial (Canadian) state.\u00a0 For participants, this independence and creativity is empowering (though funding is always a concern).\u00a0 Within the degrading context of colonialism, the commitment to Indigenous values and ways is therapeutic, as it contributes to community pride and individual self-worth.<\/p>\n

The adherence to nonviolence is critical.\u00a0 Violence, even when state-authorized, even when seemingly legitimate, creates fear and resentment, builds barriers, leads to more violence.\u00a0 Nonjudgmental care-giving (a pretty good definition of nonviolence), particularly to strangers, does the opposite.\u00a0 Nonviolence rehumanizes the dehumanized.\u00a0 To be fully human means to recognize the humanity of all other humans.\u00a0 Through their compassion, patrol members are telling vulnerable community members, \u201cYou matter.\u201d \u00a0Bear Clan participation in missing persons searches is transforming the dehumanizing and dehumanized attitudes that other Winnipeg residents may hold toward North End residents and Indigenous people in general.<\/p>\n

Bear Clan cooperation with the police has the potential to reduce tensions between officers and community members.\u00a0 Walking with Bear Clan care-givers, rather than cruising by in a car, officers will likely learn to see vulnerable, troubled individuals less as a danger or problem, more as people in need.\u00a0 Community members will likely feel less threatened by officers who are accompanied by Bear Clan volunteers.\u00a0 In this sense, the Bear Clan Patrol serves as intermediary and buffer, witness and unarmed accompaniment.\u00a0 This is possible because the Bear Clan first gained the trust of the community and the respect of the police.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re acting as a liaison between the community and the officers here,\u201d Favel explained.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make everybody\u2019s life a little bit easier, make sure everybody gets along a little better.\u201d<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

Can nonviolent community patrols work the same way in large, racially-divided U.S. cities?\u00a0 What about in suburban sprawl?\u00a0 Policing, rates of gun violence, social services, and racial tensions in the United States are not the same as in Canada.\u00a0 Still, the example of the Indigenous, working-class activists in the Bear Clan Patrol is instructive.\u00a0 The presence of nonviolence practitioners, the rehumanizing power of compassion, can change community dynamics in positive and unexpected ways.<\/p>\n

However, the greater the level of dehumanization, the greater the nonviolent sacrifice required to rehumanize.\u00a0 In communities with high rates of violence\u2014assaults, armed robberies, police homicides, gang warfare\u2014patrol volunteers will require special training in nonviolent communication, intervention, and interposition.\u00a0 At times, they may need the courage and commitment to stand between hostile adversaries.\u00a0 Perhaps a peace brigade, or shanti sena<\/em>, is called for.\u00a0 Yes, a radical idea\u2014in the best sense of the word\u2014but violent horror won\u2019t be eliminated without new (old) ways of thinking, without nonviolent sacrifice.\u00a0 Simply put, to reduce violent policing, start nonviolent policing.<\/p>\n

The Bear Clan Patrol example also hints at the importance of reincorporating police officers into the communities they patrol.\u00a0 Better training and body cameras are not enough.\u00a0 Officers who live where they work, know the people they are expected to serve, and care about the well-being of the community are less susceptible to an \u201cus versus them\u201d mentality.\u00a0 Former Baltimore street cop Michael Wood Jr. says, \u201cI think it starts with empathy.\u00a0 Police officers aren\u2019t warriors.\u00a0 They aren\u2019t soldiers.\u00a0 I don\u2019t even like the mentality that we\u2019re \u2018enforcing the laws.\u2019\u00a0 Maybe a term like \u2018protectors.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 But where the police force acts as a foreign, occupying army, reincorporation will take time.\u00a0 Perhaps a nonviolent community patrol can lead the way.<\/p>\n

If nothing else, take this from the story of James Favel and the Bear Clan Patrol.\u00a0 If you want to change your world for the better, identify a local problem, find like-minded citizens, and develop nonviolent solutions.\u00a0 You may fail.\u00a0 You may succeed and be satisfied.\u00a0 You may start a movement.\u00a0 Create a better model, and see who joins you.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________<\/p>\n

Timothy Braatz is a playwright, novelist, and professor of history and nonviolence at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California (www.saddleback.edu\/tbraatz<\/a>).\u00a0 His most recent nonfiction book is <\/em>Peace Lessons. His publications include <\/em>Surviving Conquest: A History of the Yavapai Peoples; From Ghetto to Death Camp: A Memoir of Privilege and Luck; and<\/em> Grisham\u2019s Juror.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Bear Clan Patrol is, in a word, Gandhian. Mohandas Gandhi is probably best known for leading political campaigns of mass civil disobedience and noncooperation intended to end British colonial rule over India. However, he placed greater value on his \u201cConstructive Programme\u201d: cultivating nonviolent, self-sufficient, inclusive, non-exploitative communities, or ashrams, as an alternative to colonial dependency. He hoped the British colonists would see the superiority of what he considered \u201cIndian civilization\u201d and join it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-82656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nonviolence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82656","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82656"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82656\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82656"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82656"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82656"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}