FOP leader: ‘No overt racism’ in Lexington police. Judges challenge his claims.
The president of the Fraternal Order of Police told a Lexington committee on racial inequalities that he has never witnessed racism in the city police department and chided some members for stating officers cannot be trusted to police themselves.
“From my personal experience, I have not seen overt racism in our police department,” said Lt. Jonathan Bastian, the president of FOP Bluegrass Lodge 4, which represents city officers. Bastian told members of a subcommittee of Mayor Linda Gorton’s Racial Justice and Equality Commission to talk to minority police officers.
“Why don’t you talk to some of our officers of color? People who have been here for 10, 15 and 30 years and ask them how the culture is here towards not only people of color in the community but also people of color in the police department,” Bastian said.
Fayette Circuit Court Judge Ernesto Scorsone, a member of the subcommittee, pushed back against Bastian’s assertion racism was a nonissue for Lexington police.
“I’m sitting as a judge right now, “ Scorsone said. “I’ve seen cases where I think the arrest was made because it was a person of color.”
“There has been no doubt about that,” he continued.
All professions are wrestling with unconscious biases and racism and how to address it, Scorsone said. Policing would “be the only profession that doesn’t have a problem. We surveyed lawyers and judges. We have a problem. We know that,” Scorsone said.
Bastian conceded that “there is always opportunities for improvement” and said the FOP was willing to listen to suggestions. He also said later in the meeting that the FOP was open to discussing adding citizens to an internal police disciplinary committee now made up of officers.
Bastian was invited to speak Monday to the subcommittee on Law Enforcement, Justice and Accountability of the Commission on Racial Justice and Equality. The subcommittee is looking at ways to address systematic racism in policing and the judicial system.
The full commission is scheduled to release its recommendations in September. Gorton has tasked the commission with coming up with concrete steps to address racial inequalities in law enforcement, healthcare, education, economic opportunities and other areas.
Bastian also told the group Monday he was disappointed that the subcommittee made up of judges, retired judges, lawyers, professors and community members was exploring more citizen oversight of the police.
By state law, no information about an internal police investigation is released until after the officer is disciplined. In Lexington, the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council must approve all police disciplinary actions. However, those cases come to the council after the police chief or an internal disciplinary board, made up of higher-ranking police officers, makes a recommendation.
The council is limited in what it can ask when that disciplinary action comes before the council. That’s because if an officer does not accept the punishment and it goes to a full hearing, the council acts as the jury. It’s rare for the council to turn down the police department’s recommended disciplinary action.
“I know that there has been a lot of discussion in your group that the police cannot be trusted to police the police. Frankly, I’m a little disappointed in that,” Bastian said.” That you have that low opinion of the women and men of the FOP and the Lexington Police Department.”
There is no evidence to support that, he said.
Fayette County Sheriff Kathy Witt, also a member of the subcommittee, agreed. She said those and other comments made by subcommittee members have been hurtful to her and other police officers who give so much to the community.
Police offices are “men and women who choose to stand between good and evil every day,” Witt said.
Other professions regulate themselves, she said.
“When a citizen files a complaint against a judge, where do they go? The Judicial Conduct Commission, which is made up of attorneys,” Witt said.
The same is true with the Kentucky Bar Association, she said. Complaints against lawyers are investigated by lawyers.
But that’s not entirely accurate.
Two of the six members of the Judicial Conduct Commission are citizens and cannot be lawyers, according to the commission’s web site. Three of the nine members of the Kentucky Bar Association Inquiry Commission, which investigates complaints against lawyers, are citizens and cannot be lawyers.
Lexington’s five-member civil service commission, which oversees appeals of disciplinary actions for most civil service employees, cannot be the city’s employees.
Subcommittee member Diana Queen said the public wants more accountability and oversight of police. It’s not the subcommittee.
“Citizens are really expressing this,” Queen said. “This is not based on the limited view of this committee.”
Bastian also criticized the testimony of Gary Potter, a retired professor at Eastern Kentucky University’s School of Justice Studies, who spoke to the subcommittee last week. Potter’s research is largely on organized crime, not police oversight, Bastian said. Moreover, Potter was citing national data involving police oversight and accountability. That’s not fair, Bastian said.
“You are looking at national trends, not local issues,” Bastian said.
Jennifer Coffman, a retired federal judge and co-chair of the subcommittee, stopped Bastian. Potter’s point was that there was little or no Lexington-based data, and more needs to be collected, she said. Potter recommended looking at how police spend their time by reviewing 911 calls.
Nationally, it has been shown that less than 1 percent of all police calls are violent crimes. Potter also recommended a community survey on crime to determine what the community deems as the most important crime issues. Crime statistics only show what the police do, not overall crime, Potter said.
“Are you bringing us some local data?” Coffman asked Bastian.
No, Bastian said. The FOP does not collect data.
“So the local data does not exist right now, is that correct?” Coffman said.
Bastian said he did not know what data was collected and available.
“I don’t think that’s our purview,” Bastian said of the FOP.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 9:41 AM.
