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Editorial: A model for constructive dialogue about police

On Sunday, several hundred suburban residents stepped away from any celebrations of the last hurrah of the holiday season, shivered in the wet chill of a gray sleet and took to the streets of Oak Brook to declare their appreciation and respect for the job done by local police.

It was an unusual demonstration - and a welcome one. Indeed, we'd like to see more like it.

For all the right reasons, the rally was a productive and valuable contribution to the national conversation about use of force by police. It was passionate but controlled. It was positive. Perhaps above all else, it emphasized the fact that this conversation is not about whether police deserve to be respected and appreciated. They do and they are.

These qualities lay the foundation on which discussion of police procedures in the wake of the highly publicized deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and Eric Garner in Staten Island, New York, must be built. Importantly, they do not preclude the need for the discussion.

As we suggested in an editorial following Eric Garner's death, one cannot watch the video of his arrest and turn away confident that justice was served, either in the circumstances of his arrest or in the system that absolved everyone involved in his death.

Such situations demand review, reflection and action.

But a response swirling in an atmosphere of threat and accusation serves no one. It's critical that this discussion not devolve into factional slogans that simply either vilify police or applaud them. In explaining his reason for supporting the Oak Brook march, Luke Pennington of Clarendon Hills emphasized, "There are two sides to every conversation." While that's true enough, it's equally important to remember that the issue here isn't "sides."

The issue is making sure that police are well trained and appropriately deployed, that they have the respect of law-abiding citizens and that they have it because they demonstrate that same respect toward the people with whom they come in contact.

However justified or understandable, the emotional and reactionary protests that disrupted the streets of Ferguson for weeks produced at least as much contention and animosity as they did positive change. Demonstrations like Sunday's in Oak Brook offer a more constructive model.

They emphasize that the question here is not whether the community supports or respects the police. It is how the community and police will respond together to ensure that everyone operates in an atmosphere of respect and safety.

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