Melvin Russell: I love being a police officer, but we need reform
Melvin Russell: Amo ser policial, mas precisamos de uma reforma
Melvin Russell is bringing stakeholders together to work toward the common goal of peace and prosperity for Baltimore City. Full bio
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for a very, very long time.
because I'm also a black preacher.
porque eu também sou um pregador negro.
about black preachers,
pregadores negros,
going for another 20 minutes.
por mais 20 minutos. Amém?
pushing this thing forward.
continuar avançando,
for a very long time,
but I'm telling the truth.
I mean, War on Drugs.
being a police officer.
because it's always been a calling for me
sempre foi minha vocação
law enforcement is in a crisis.
o cumprimento da lei está em crise.
We can't arrest our way out of this."
a forma de fazer isso."
that we have to adopt this thinking
que devemos pensar dessa maneira
to community policing.
policiamento comunitário.
everything that we just admitted.
tudo o que acabamos de admitir.
several years ago.
para mim, há muitos anos.
I was tired of discrimination,
cansado da discriminação.
and the schisms.
in the beloved agency
até na minha amada agência
a date that we would retire.
nos aposentar.
go off into the sunset,
e sairíamos ao por do sol,
integral, amar a esposa mais tempo
love my wife a long time.
that I was educated in --
back into the system.
meu coração no sistema.
18 months, 19 months,
some radical policing.
um policiamento radical.
from being a drug sergeant --
de um Sargento na área de drogas,
as a district commander,
in Baltimore city.
da cidade de Baltimore.
and the tuberculosis [rating],
across the nation,
I didn't say city --
eu não disse cidade,
We gotta do something different.
Devemos fazer algo diferente.
We gotta think radical.
Pensar radicalmente.
that I desperately wanted
que eu tanto queria
to that inner spirit.
o espírito interno.
to that man on the inside
homem de dentro
that I had been trained to do.
sido treinado para fazer.
to that inner spirit,
aquele espírito interno,
uma verdadeira reforma policial
authority over for public safety,
autoridade, sobre a segurança pública
nossos pensamentos ruins.
is we started to think holistically
começar a pensar holísticamente
and never should have been
deveria ter sido
to that intersection
all races, all creeds, all colors;
raças, credos e cores;
and the faith-based,
nos negócios ou na fé,
that I had authority over.
sobre as quais eu tinha autoridade.
things into the community
para a comunidade
strategies and deployments,
desdobramentos extravagantes
to the community about them.
com a comunidade sobre isso.
and say, "Take that."
e dizemos: "se virem".
of that stinkin' thinkin',
We want to hear from you.
Queremos ouvir vocês.
started to happen.
130 cops that were under my tutelage
130 policiais sob minha tutela
into something incredible.
evoluímos para algo incrível.
so much, so very much.
mas tanto mesmo.
policial natural
beautiful, 23-inch arm.
bonito, braço de 58 cm.
It just look good!
Realmente é bonito!
it so much sometimes
mas o exercemos tantas vezes
and dehumanized us.
e nos desumanizou.
and ... there it is.
in our protective arm.
no nosso braço protetor.
nossas comunidades
our brothers and sisters,
irmãos e irmãs,
in the mirror and see our mistakes.
e enxergar nossos erros.
and get through this,
apresso e tento superar isso,
makes up a community.
on law enforcement.
nos agentes da lei.
and the nerve to get upset
when we take action.
should be calling the police
devemos chamar a polícia
should be calling the police
chamando a polícia
music is up too loud,
to my yard and did a number two;
número dois no meu quintal;
be calling the police.
chamar a polícia.
so much of our responsibility.
das nossas responsabilidade.
coming up in Baltimore --
um garoto crescendo em Baltimore...
rough in the street --
come and break us up.
acabar com a brincadeira.
in the community.
it was that village mentality.
era aquela mentalidade de vila.
and "Do this." and "Stop that."
"façam isso", "isso não!"
all of the community.
that makes up a community, even --
comunidade, até mesmo...
I'm very hard on the churches,
sou muito rígido com as igrejas,
too often have become MIA,
se tornaram "MIA",
over the last 10, 20 years
nos últimos 10, 20 anos
round the corner and you're in church.
vira a esquina e está na igreja.
commuter churches.
become disconnected by default
tornaram desconectadas por padrão
where they're planted.
em que estão plantadas.
of that community.
but I really need to wrap this up.
mas preciso finalizar.
and I call it relational equity.
que chamo de igualdade de relacionamento.
for all of us to build our cities
reconstruirmos nossas cidades
commandship in that district,
e meio naquele distrito,
in the car with my police
no carro com minha equipe
it's a little secret --
um policial malvado
with a clergy.
por aí com um religioso.
looking to your right, talking about:
do carro e falando:
all day long -- you can't do it!
o dia todo... Não dá!
incredible initiatives,
and police to build that trust back.
a polícia reconstruir a confiança.
are on the wrong side of the fence.
estarem do lado errado da cerca.
in our community
to proper medical care,
cuidados médicos apropriados,
and partnered up
e fizemos parcerias
to partner with us
what we needed holistically,
holisticamente,
das necessidades das pessoas
of the needs of the people,
of a four-and-a-half-year stint,
de uma tarefa de quatro anos e meio,
at a 40-year historical low:
numa baixa histórica de 40 anos:
down, back to the 1970s.
started keeping data since 1970.
apenas em 1970.
I had other commanders call me,
que outros comandantes ligavam,
de crimes em 30 anos.
we fell, Baltimore city,
caímos, Baltimore,
197 para ser exato.
to become great servers,
these last few years,
estes últimos anos,
rather than reactive,
ao invés de reativos,
that it should've never happened.
não deveria ter acontecido.
along the vein that we were in,
do jeito que estávamos,
treating them with respect,
tratando-os com respeito,
to business as usual.
voltamos aos negócios como antes.
temos um comissionário da polícia
we have a police commissioner
about community policing,
de policiamento comunitário,
em relação a Baltimore hoje,
I believe shall rise from the ashes.
vamos ressurgir das cinzas.
and continue to say,
e continuamos a dizer,
on the same path for the same goals,
seguir o mesmo caminho às mesmas metas
we all want peace.
todos queremos paz.
a few minutes of your time.
alguns minutos do seu tempo.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Melvin Russell - Chief of the Community Partnership Division, Baltimore Police DepartmentMelvin Russell is bringing stakeholders together to work toward the common goal of peace and prosperity for Baltimore City.
Why you should listen
Lt. Colonel Melvin T. Russell is Chief of the Community Partnership Division, Baltimore Police Department. Russell joined The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) in 1979 as a police cadet and graduated from the BPD academy in 1981 as the first and only African American class valedictorian.
Russell worked both as a uniform patrol and then an undercover officer for 20 years before re-emerging as an Eastern District Lieutenant in 2007. In this position, Russell turned the worse midnight patrol shift in the city to the best in 3 months and was promoted to Major of the Eastern District 11 months later. It was during this time as Major that Russell created the non-profit “Transformation Team” (TTT), a grassroots organization of community shareholders that are committed to working together to make a better Baltimore.
In January 2013, Russell was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and created the Community Partnership Division.
Melvin Russell | Speaker | TED.com