“Meaningful” Arrest Reports

By Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson,
Associate Editor
As we continue to work to make The People’s Voice more responsive and sensitive to the specific interests of it’s audience, we have devoted a lot of time to considering the kind of information that would be most meaningful to people of color.

As we continue to work to make more responsive and sensitive to the specific interests of it’s audience, we have devoted a lot of time to considering the kind of information that would be most meaningful to people of color.Early in our publishing conquest, many readers inquired as to why we don’t publish arrest reports and articles of that nature as other print media do?  Our answer was a loud, resounding and emphatic NO!  After surveying the interests and opinions  of black consumers, we were impressed by their opinions that they found it very distasteful to read arrest reports, especially when many of those featured in the arrest reports are black.  Many see it as another strategy that allows the majority to stigmatize and brand blacks as criminal.

What is gained by demeaning an individual who may be a victim of alcohol or drug use?   What is gained from publicly humiliating an individual who may have committed a minor offense?

Thus after careful consideration, we believe it would be more meaningful to those truly concerned with the well-being and interest of African American people, to provide reports that shed more light on the numbers and/or percentages of individuals by race and gender, who are most affected by the Justice System and the nature of the charges leveled against them.

For African-Americans, the more important question goes back to the issue of how many(?) as opposed to who(?).

It has been established throughout numerous black venues that blacks are more frequently profiled and have more confrontations with law enforcement, despite the fact that we are in the minority in the general population.  Thus, a sensible conclusion is that the percentage of blacks in custody should be no higher than the percentage represented in the general population….and already, most of us could conclude that to be a joke!

So, believing that this kind information would be more meaningful…we are beginning to have conversations with some of the municipalities throughout the area to arrange to get the information weekly.   In pursuit of this goal, we recently spoke with Susan Cooper who works with the Municipal Court for the City Of Wedowee.   As a result of our conversations with  Cooper, we certainly gained a new respect for Mayor Tim Coe after Cooper explained to us that “Several years ago, Mayor Coe was against people’s names being put in the paper for arrest in the City, because he thought the families of the subjects were going through enough without their names being put in the paper.”

We couldn’t agree more.  And although we realize that such criminal proceedings are a matter of public record, we believe that if people want to know that bad, let them go dig up the information for themselves.    

So, all things considered, we plan to publish weekly reports that give numerical data regarding arrests in selected municipalities; we would like for our reports to include the nature of the charges also, however, the actual content of our report will remain a work in progress as it evolves.   We will gradually add other locations as the information becomes available to us.  Our report will more than likely appear in tablet format.

With this knowledge then, we as a people should be compelled to ask the question, “Why are blacks overrepresented in jails and prisons?”    Finally, as proactive and concerned citizens, hopefully we will be about the business of seeking solutions to these dilemmas.

As we gather this data weekly, we will share this information with you in the form of a Weekly Justice Report.  Please look forward to the inclusion of the weekly “Justice Report (or whatever we choose to title it).”

Our hope is that after reading our weekly reports, you will be able to put the numbers to the test for yourself.  Then, judge for yourself.   Is our system fair?  Is there racial equality in the criminal justice system?   It will be quite interesting to see how this data unfolds.
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Copyright 2006 by Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson
This article was composed and written by Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson, and appeared in the September 1, edition of The People’s Voice African American Weekly News (www.peoplesvoiceweekly.us).  
This article may be reprinted with permission from the author:
Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson
email:  caclarkfrieson@msn.com
322 Wilkie Clark Drive
Roanoke, Alabama 36274
334-863-4885
256-276-8604