Black Officers Share Their Thoughts on Policing
A Black History Month Event
By Pam Gates and Sherry Reames
A proud, sometimes emotional panel of Black law-enforcement officers from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office and the Madison Police Department answered questions posed by moderator Shar-Ron Buie at a Black History Month event on Feb. 19. The event, spearheaded by the Madison Community Policing Foundation and called “Journey into Policing,” enabled attendees to learn about the varied life experiences of these successful Black officers, as well as their understanding of community policing.
Lt. Jonathan Triggs, from the Sheriff’s Office, said he was raised in a neighborhood where “community mattered” and that his experiences as a leader have further shaped his character and values. It changed him, he said, when he first had to break the news to a family that their loved one would not be coming home and when he had to discipline a respected fellow officer. As a deputy, he works all over the county, including in some areas that are “less welcoming” to Black people, but he said, “I’ve received nothing but respect. I’m always educating. I want the best for everyone. I try to lead with emotional intelligence, integrity, and the desire to help others.”
Sgt. Shuntia Lucas, who supervises 15 deputies during her daily shift at the Dane County Jail, said she “got the best of both worlds” by growing up in a racially mixed area with good schools and two parents who believed in her. She described her key values as composure, empathy, and emotional intelligence. “You need to approach each person and each situation individually,” she said. She also said, “I help people get back on track”– referring both to the deputies she supervises and to jail residents, whom she encourages to take advantage of the resources available there for education, treatment, and re-entry support.
The senior member of the panel, retired MPD Officer Pia Kinney James, recalled some of her experiences as the first Black woman to join Madison’s police force in 1975. “We were coming off Vietnam War protests, the Civil Rights movement, women’s rights. There was a lot of hostility toward all police, and nobody wanted to see a Black female officer. But I said, ‘We’re here to stay.'” Kinney James recalled having seen things change for the better as police got out of their cars and walked their beats, becoming closer to the people in their districts, and earned their trust by being fair. Her philosophy of policing, she said, was not to arrest people unnecessarily, but to teach them where the line was.