9 Proven Strategies for Breaking Through to Common Ground
How police chiefs and Black community leaders overcame years of antagonism in York, PA
In the summer of 2016, I sat strategizing with a small group of Black ministers about how to find a common ground breakthrough between police and the Black community in York, PA.
Our local community, less than an hour north of Baltimore, MD, was boiling over with agitation over the deaths of Black men at the hands of police, young men like 25-year old Freddie Gray of Baltimore.
As leaders in our community, we were keenly aware that our city was on the brink of potential riots if even one police interaction went wrong.
Our little city of York, PA, has a history of violent riots dating to 1969. That year was violent and deadly as a young Black woman, Lillie Belle Allen, was shot by white men as she drove with her family. A white police officer, Henry Schaad, was killed in an armored truck by a Black sniper that same year.
York was boiling over with antagonism and rage, much like most of America in 2021.
The National Guard was brought in to restore peace in 1969. The communal scars are still fresh in 2021.
I can still picture elderly Black congregants at a recent public forum angrily recall the fear they felt as military tanks and police dogs rolled through their neighborhoods like it was an overseas war zone.
Years later, in 1999, York’s sitting Mayor, Charlie Robertson, was arrested on charges related to the death of Lillie Belle Allen in those 1969 riots.
One of the patriarchs of the local Black Ministers Association, Bishop Carl Scott, told me how local police in those days would sit on the banks of the Codorus Creek across from a low-income housing project and fire their shotguns into the air to antagonize Black residents.
York has never really healed from those 1969 race riots; moved on, yes, but 50 years later the violence still looms large in this small city’s collective memory.
As leaders, we knew it would be challenging to find to overcome the years of antagonism to find common ground between Black community leaders and the 18 police department chiefs that serve York County.
York County is breaking through the antagonism between police and local Black leaders
Before I describe our journey toward common ground, I should fast-forward to tell you, that in 2021, local Black leaders and York County police have a strong and vibrant relationship. I would venture to guess that this is one of the more unique relationships that exist in our country.
Law enforcement leaders and community leaders have been meeting together every month since 2016 to have hard-hitting conversations. I have had the personal privilege of moderating these conversations. I am confident at my life’s end that I will consider peacemaking one of my life’s highest callings.
Relationships have been built and trust is being fostered even if it is ever so fragile. I don’t want to be naive about the state of relationships, but tangible progress has been made over the last five years.
Our conversations are honest and transparent. We don’t always agree but we always come back to the table as brothers and sisters with a common vision.
Local police are now augmenting how they train their offices based on our dialogue. These departments have invited local Black pastors and leaders into training sessions and had them talk to officers about subjects like implicit bias.
Today, Black community leaders speak on behalf of the police as a communication bridge to the community. Instead of marching to protest outside of City Hall, these leaders are meeting in the offices with local police chiefs and judges and effecting real change.
Together, we actively strategize together on ways to reduce violence throughout York County.
The struggle to break through to common ground was not easy, but we discovered proven strategies to help us achieve unity and progress.
Source: Aaron J. Anderson, an example of one of our current topics of discussion
A breakthrough was made possible by one tense meeting
Our first meeting together as police chiefs and local clergy was held in the auditorium of the school I lead, Logos Academy, in September of 2016. We put out a call through the local Black Ministers Association and through our joint connections to clergy throughout the County. Over 50 clergy showed up from a huge diversity of denominations.
York City’s former Police Chief Wes Kahley helped gather our local chiefs. I can still picture my conversation with Chief Kahley before I began moderating the night’s conversation. He expressed that the local chiefs were nervous that they would be attacked. I assured my friend Wes that I would do my best to facilitate a peaceful dialogue.
This first meeting happened completely off the radar of local media and politicians. We asked participants to not advertise they were attending or to talk about it on social media. We did not invite any media or local politicians. Our goal was that this meeting would be one in which we could speak “off the record” without fear of reprisal.
In typical fashion, both groups segregated as they sat in the auditorium. Police chiefs huddled together. Black ministers sat opposite them.
There was substantial tension in the air as I began moderating the discussion. Pastor Ramon Kinard aired a grievance of how her young Black son was followed home by one local County police department every night as he returned to his home in the City. Chief Mark Bentzel who headed that department expressed sorrow and dismay.
One by one, the complaints were aired. In return, the chiefs answered questions but expressed sorrow and disappointment, even surprise, at the deteriorated state of community relations.
Chief Dan Stump confessed to the group that there are times when police get it wrong. You could sense the shock in the room that a local police chief would make such an acknowledgment. The simple confession was unbelievably disarming.
The conversation went on for almost three hours as people jockeyed for their time at the microphone.
By the end of the night, the police chiefs came to me excitedly and said, “We have to do this again. That was so productive. Will you gather us again?”
Since that tension-filled night in September 2016, we have met together every month in both smaller and large group gatherings. For nearly five years, we have sustained that first conversation that has now blossomed into beautiful relationships.
Passionate meetings are never enough to sustain breakthrough
In my nearly 18 years living and serving in York County, I have been a part of numerous passionate public discussions about problems in our County and City.
Like many other communities, we gather together after some local tragedy like a shooting or repetitive gang violence. These gatherings are often well-attended and full of fiery passion. Someone regularly gathers notes on large sheets of white paper posted around the room. Breakout sessions occur where smaller groups brainstorm.
Rarely though has any effort ever sustained beyond a couple of meetings. A tireless and exhausting cycle always seems to prevail. The progression looks like this:
senseless violence
community shock and anger
call to action (often a gathering at a park for speeches and prayer)
long public meeting for an airing of grievances (insert speeches: “there is nothing for our kids to do,” “I am running for X public office,” “Let me tell you about the program I am starting,” “we need to reform our schools”)
the initial feeling of relief that something was accomplished
a follow-up meeting to establish working groups or committees
interest fades and time passes with no actual progress on the problem
senseless violence
And the cycle repeats. Again and again.
Key strategies that have enabled our breakthrough
I recount that exhausting cycle to tell you that I expect this pattern is the norm in most communities.
Strangely enough, the opposite has happened with our Chiefs & Clergy Partnership. We have five years of monthly meetings and events under our belts and the momentum is picking up, not slowing down.
Why is this?
There is enough time under our belts to reflect on why we have been able to sustain our breakthrough.
The simple answer is that I believe we stumbled on to principles of change management that are proven to work. Keep in mind that we didn’t start out with a change management map. (You could read John Kotter’s principles of change management to better understand how to effect and sustain change.)
I won’t attempt to mirror Kotter’s principles here because we did not follow a prescribed formula in York. The following is a brief outline and synopsis of how we broke through the antagonism between Black leaders and police.
(1) Identify the crisis and the sense of urgency. This is Kotter’s first point. Without a crisis, there is no sense of urgency. York had a crisis on our hands. We were one bad police incident away from York spiraling into the same chaos as other US cities.
(2) Understand the complexity of your context. York has a unique history, geography, ways of segregating, small-town politics, and personalities. We did not approach York the same way you would address this problem in Minneapolis or New York City. We also were not simplistic about approaching our complex problem. We recognized that multiple diagnoses and solutions would be required.
(3) Identify a bridge person. Every conflict needs a peacemaker who can lay a hand on both groups. They can understand and articulate the concerns and goals of each group. The bridge person sees the overlap of goals. They need to be a respected leader who is trusted by the parties in conflict.
Peacemakers have to be comfortable living in the tension of conflict. They must prioritize the unity and the progress of the group over against individual goals. They negotiate compromises by encouraging each side to move ever so carefully toward the other. These leaders help the group stay focused.
In our group, we had several bridge people. A number of the Black ministers were ready to embrace the police despite distrust even in our community. White ministers were eager to learn and stand in the gap where needed. Several chiefs were willing to be more transparent and vulnerable enough to sit patiently as their departments were criticized. I personally have had the privilege of developing deep relationships with both police and clergy over the the years which has allowed me the trust of the group to moderate our discussions.
(4) Identify the right partners. We did not go after the usual suspects or assumed community leaders (many of these are accused of maintaining the status quo). The leaders of our local police obviously had to be involved. There were key police chiefs who led the charge. These were the most humble, honest, and transparent, and we made sure that the right voices were given the platform. We could not afford for one of the chiefs to take a defensive posture because it would shut down the dialogue.
The Black leaders initially engaged were from the local Black Ministers Association who felt especially called by God to pray and work for peace. We were selective about who to involve. We were aware that there were noisy activists whose voices needed to be heard, but we knew that hostility toward police would create a barrier to building relationships.
(Here is where Kotter would argue you need a guiding coalition).
(5) Prepare the partners for healthy dialogue that builds relationships. Everyone wants the microphone. Frustration is likely pent up by years of injustice, perceived or real. Humans want their voices to be heard. It is not easy to take criticism and very natural to be defensive. Leaders need to be prepared to listen though if breakthrough is going to happen.
In the case of our dialogue, this especially meant the police chiefs needed to be ready to receive criticism even if they didn’t like it or believed it was statistically inaccurate.
Relationships can only happen as a result of trust. I am not going to open my heart to you if you are going to trample it. The act of trust is one of vulnerability. We knew that relationship-building was going to take years, not days, weeks, or months. We, therefore, made sure that our dialogue was the kind that would build trusting relationships.
(6) Find the desire for common ground and overlapping goals. Both police chiefs and community leaders wanted a safer York and desired more trust and cooperation.
Police didn’t want to be vilified. They wanted their officers to return home safely to their spouses and kids.
Black leaders wanted to be able to trust the police and wanted young people to be encouraged to respect authority. They also wanted their kids and grandkids to make it home safely after being pulled over by the police.
We found that there were ways both groups feared each other and both desired a healthier version of our community.
(7) Craft a common vision, mission, and values. Our little town has so many well-intentioned initiatives. These often drift into each other so that each initiative begins to take on the flavor of the others until each unique initiatives have lost their focus.
We avoided this dilution in our group purpose by creating a steering committee that crafted a vision, mission, and values. Our mission was the following:
To be a racially diverse movement of police chiefs, clergy, and community leaders in York County, Pennsylvania that encourages relationships, reconciliation, and dialogue between law enforcement and community.
While we have been open to new participants, the group has been watchful of the mission drifting or being hijacked. We have been comfortable recognizing that other initiatives are important but not necessarily our aim.
At every meeting, we make sure to start off by talking about how our purpose is to build relationships between police and our local community.
(8) Go after low-hanging fruit and celebrate the wins. Police invited Black ministers into departmental training on de-escalation and even asked them to speak on implicit bias. They introduced the ministers to the officers in their departments.
Black ministers invited police to events and even to their churches. They began praying with and for the police.
We held block parties and made sure to advertise to each other the various events our churches or police departments were promoting. This kind of cross-promotion happens regularly at our meetings.
We make sure to celebrate the small wins together. For a while, I kept a list of all the things we were doing together. I stopped after the pattern had become habitual. The list was getting long and unnecessary.
Celebrating wins gave us fuel to keep going when the conversations got hard.
There has never been any gloating that either side “won” something. Part of this is due to our newfound unity. We don’t think in terms of teams or sides, but rather we have learned to speak of “us” as a group.
(9) Don’t hesitate to stay underground for as long as needed. For two years, we stayed completely off the radar and underground. Very few people in our community knew we were meeting monthly. We did not talk about it on social media nor reach out to local media or local politicians.
I can distinctly recall one of our local white pastors, Paul Atkinson, challenging the group at a moment where we started to debate the merits of being more public. He reminded us of the need to build trust and not to self-promote. It was incredibly wise of Paul and we all consented to keep at it quietly.
It wasn’t until some time later that we finally sensed a breakthrough in our relationships. At this point, we felt like we had a model into which we could invite other folks in our community. There was a sense of urgency that we needed our police to develop relationships with young people in our community, not just with a group of older ministers.
Sustaining the breakthrough
Next month, our Chiefs & Clergy Partnership will be five years old. The momentum is still strong, but I would be lying if I didn’t say I was concerned about sustaining the movement. Key chiefs have and will eventually retire. Vital peacemaking ministers will retire or move on.
How will we sustain the movement? Will the national dialogue control our local one? Will a botched police incident destroy our work?
I am currently working on creating a backbone organization that will be funded to better organize and sustain our efforts. Kotter talks about the final step of instituting change.
In our case, this means creating better organization and communication. Every person involved in leading our effort is involved in leading other institutions: police departments, churches, nonprofits, schools, etc.
I am convinced that many of our initiatives fail to sustain momentum for two reasons:
They don’t leverage the nine strategies outlined above.
They lack the ongoing leadership, resources, and infrastructure to maintain momentum and progress.
Our world needs a breakthrough to common ground now more than ever
I hope in capturing our humble story of how local police chiefs and Black leaders broke through years of antagonism that it will inspire and help others to seek common ground.
Our world is dangerously divided on so many fronts these days. Hostility is growing, despair increasing, and violence is the chosen method of solving problems.
We can breakthrough the most hardened conflicts by using proving strategies to find common ground if we are willing to lay down our weapons in hopes of building new partnerships.
