Sometimes we think it goes without saying that we support nonviolence, the police, the community and individual members of the community.
But in these times, we are finding that we need to say it again.
We support people sitting down and talking over their differences; we do not support violence against anyone.
There have been tragedies this summer involving snipers shooting at police in other communities, and of police shooting suspects in other communities. The killings sadden the nation, and are unnecessary.
We don’t see spending more money as necessarily the solution to this situation. Rather, better communication with the community will probably solve problems.
Kansas City, Kan., and Wyandotte County are to be commended for their efforts to have a dialogue with the community last year on important topics involving the police and minority communities here, leading to substantial changes in hiring, promotion and policies.
A sad thing about some of the recent violence in other communities is that some of those communities also had good records when it came to their relationship with minorities, but protesters were angry about events that had happened in other communities.
Local leaders at all levels should emphasize nonviolence and dialogue, and residents need to commit themselves to work to solve problems without violence.