Aurora officers discuss being Black cops during turbulent year

Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin on Saturday hosted a Facebook Live chat with Black members of the city's police department on their perspectives on their careers and how they were affected by the national debate of the past year on policing and race relations.

The conversation's title, "A NOBLE Mission," came from the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), a group for which Aurora Deputy Police Chief Keith Cross is president of the Northern Illinois chapter.

While retired Aurora Police Chief Bill Powell had been invited to the conversation under the pretext of making introductory remarks, Irvin surprised him with the Herbert Hill Lifetime Achievement Award. Powell had been the first Black sergeant, lieutenant and chief of the Aurora Police Department.

"Thank you, mayor," Powell said. "You certainly threw me for a loop. I'm usually not lost for words. From the bottom of my heart, thanks a lot! This means a lot."

Powell said the turbulent past year has brought a huge spotlight to policing and how it has to do things differently. He said Black officers may have a leg up in helping bring about such change as many come from and understand the communities where last year's controversies occurred.

"We have to have these conversations if we're going to change our community and change our world," Powell said.

In the past, police officers had been trained with something of a warrior mindset, he said. "We have to change from warrior to server to be of service," Powell said.

Several other Black members of the department said their career choices were inspired by the desire to improve the poor relationships they'd seen been police and the communities of their youth. And many of them are involved also in youth mentoring programs in Aurora.

Irvin, an attorney who became a prosecutor early in his career, said he grew up on the east side of Aurora where police officers were often looked upon as enemies. "The police don't have to be the enemy in our community," he said. "In fact, they can be our friends."

Cross said recruiting a diverse police force to serve a diverse community is one of the department's goals. But better education of the public as well as better training of officers can help cut down on the misunderstandings that led to some of last year's more high-profile events across the nation.

He added that while many Black police officers may feel a tension between the two communities to which they belong, they also know walking away from that unique responsibility wouldn't fix anything.