U.S. Works to Heal After Police Shootings
SESAY: Hello, everyone. Families and friends said farewell to three of the five officers killed in that terrible police ambush last week in Dallas, Texas. Officer Lorne Ahrens remembered at his funeral for his big personality but even bigger heart. He leaves behind two children. The sister of Officer Michael Smith here in the center said he worked hard to give his two daughters more than he ever had. And the six children of Transit Officer Brent Thompson on the right said their dad will always be their hero. It was an African-American man who took up a sniper's position and one by one targeted those white officers. They had been protecting a peaceful protest against police brutality. Our own Don Lemon looked at police and race relations in the U.S. in this town hall meeting, "BLACK, WHITE, AND BLUE." The father of one of the officers killed in the ambush was just one of the panelists calling for peace.</s>DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: You all need healing. The country needs healing. What can you say to the country now about healing. There's two families, again, people would think, are on different sides but all pain is the same. What do you say to the country, Dad?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has to stop. By taking another person's life, it won't make that person's life come back.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been saying the same thing since it all started. You know, violence for violence is not -- never going to be the answer to nothing especially not in the situation that me and this family is sharing right now. And I think we all come together to say that we want peace. We want peace for both families.</s>SESAY: Well, I want to bring in CNN law enforcement contributor Steve Moore, who's also a retired FBI supervisory special agent. Cheryl Dorsey is a retired sergeant for the Los Angeles Police Department and author of "The Creation of a Manifesto: Black and Blue." Welcome to you both. Thank you for staying with us. Cheryl, so much pain in this town hall and also fear. One of our CNN colleagues actually posed a question to law enforcement in the room, a basic question of, how do I as a black man stay safe in my interactions with law enforcement, with the police? Take a listen to how Charles Blow kind of summed it up. Charles Blow is a CNN commentator and "New York Times" journalist. Take a listen.</s>CHARLES BLOW, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Can we just take a moment as America and register how profound and immoral it is that we should have to give a certain group in this country a tool box to survive what should otherwise be an innocent interaction.</s>SESAY: Profound and immoral, Cheryl. I mean, it's hard not to see it as an indictment of this country.</s>CHERYL DORSEY, RETIRED LAPD SERGEANT: You know, I had a conversation today with a gentleman who also has a little packet that he carries with him, and he keeps with him, his I.D., his driver's license, and his registration, so that if the officer stop him he can immediately hand this to him and put his hands in a safe place. And so, you know, these are very difficult times. Police are scared. Citizens are scared. There needs to be a dialogue. There first needs to be an admission that there is a problem and then let's talk about fixing it for real, for real, this time.</s>SESAY: Steve, in watching that town hall at least with the law enforcement there, did you get the sense they're willing to admit there is a problem?</s>STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Cheryl and I were talking backstage. I think that there are very few officers who will deny that there isn't -- deny that there's a problem nationwide. Sure it's fractional. It's like a little bit of cancer in your body but it can kill you eventually. It is not this pervasive, massive thing but it's enough to do irreparable harm. We have to do something about it.</s>SESAY: Yes, take a listen to some of basketball's biggest stars, taking the stage at the Espy's on Wednesday evening. Listen to what they had to say about the situation in this country.</s>LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS FORWARD: Let's use this moment as a call to action for all professional athletes to educate ourselves explore these issues, speak up. Use our influence and renounce all violence and most importantly, go back to our communities. Invest our time, our resources, help rebuild them, help strengthen them, help change them. We all have to do better.</s>SESAY: Powerful words, Cheryl, from real influencers.</s>DORSEY: You know, it's much like what we need to see our police officers do. If you see something, say something. If an officer has a partner who's having a hard time and you recognize that he is having issues, help that officer get that help that he needs so that he is safe and the community is safe.</s>SESAY: And Steve, your reaction to hearing that?</s>MOORE: I think that's the best way you can deal with this. Nonviolent but influence people -- influence your own community and help everybody to come to a realization. We're not going to -- we're not going to fix this until our dialogue talking to each other here is the same as when we're talking to our friends. It's got to be the same. There can't be a subtext going on.</s>SESAY: Part of the dialogue has been -- a call has been to include in the conversation, and I'm interested to get your view on this, the role of policing in society. Right now the police are being asked to do too much and that as we move forward that needs to be looked at. Cheryl, you had a visceral reaction there.</s>DORSEY: Well, listen, for me, you know, police have always had to wear many hats. Right? When I respond to a radio call of domestic violence situation, I become a marriage counselor. Right? And so this is what we do. And so that's why evaluations, psychological evaluations are so critical of the officers not just when they become police officers but as they remain on the force. Because if you identify someone who is not able to negotiate those waters, who can't change hats quickly, who doesn't have commonsense because you can't teach it, then we need to get them into a profession where they are better suited.</s>SESAY: Do you agree, Steve, that you need to change the individuals and give them the support or that the roles of police officers need to be reviewed? I mean, what's your take?</s>MOORE: I think both. But mainly I think we need to keep track of police officers and law enforcement of all types. I remember we used to take annual psych evaluations when we were undercover and they used to tell us, well, you couldn't pass the normal test after two years of being undercover because it changes you so much. Being a law enforcement officer unavoidably changes you. And some people are changed in ways that can be healthy. Some people go in unhealthy ways. And those are the people -- I don't know if we have the technology. I don't know if we have the system in place to identify those people. But we have got to do it.</s>SESAY: Alton Sterling, who was killed in Baton Rouge outside that convenience store, and it was captured on video and it is part of that that has brought people out on the streets. His son was speaking out on Wednesday about the situation this country faces. Take a listen.</s>CAMERON STERLING, ALTON STERLING'S SON: I feel that everyone, yes, you can protest. But I want everyone to protest the right way. Protest in peace, not guns, not drugs, not alcohol, not violence. Everyone needs to protest in the right way. With peace. No violence. None whatsoever.</s>SESAY: Profound words from a young man that hopefully will resonate with people as they continue to protest because what's your view, Cheryl, should the protests continue?</s>DORSEY: Well, sure. I mean, voices need to be heard but it needs to be constructive. Right? And so you don't want your message to get lost in the mess. And what a brave young man. You know, I fell so proud to watch him as a mom myself and see him speak so articulately. Why don't we honor Alton Sterling and the life of Philando Castile by doing things the right way.</s>SESAY: Steve?</s>MOORE: I'm just astounded at the maturity of the boy and I just -- the young man. And I look back when I was a kid and seeing what Martin Luther King was doing. And how much resistance he got with peaceful demonstrations.</s>SESAY: So you support the protests continuing?</s>MOORE: I believe that if people have a grievance they have the right to protest and that right is one of the things that we have fought all of our lives to protect. So yes, if you have a grievance protest as long as it is peaceful and as Cheryl says, constructive. Anything that's non-constructive is going to cause resentment because both sides have open wounds.</s>SESAY: Steve Moore, Cheryl Dorsey, it's always good to have you with us because you guys are always honest and help us move the conversation forward. So thank you.</s>DORSEY: Thank you.</s>SESAY: Time for a quick break now. Next on NEWSROOM L.A. what the world can expect from new British Prime Minister Theresa May especially with the surprise addition of Boris Johnson to her cabinet.