Special Report: LaGrange PD works to end racial bias in policing

Chief Louis Dekmar is committed to fair and impartial policing.

By: Darian Aaron
Posted: May 25, 2018, Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc.

LaGrange, Ga- Chief Louis Dekmar is actively working to dismantle racial bias within the police force he leads in an unprecedented way. 

"You can't have effective public safety if the community and the police aren't working together. And you can't have them working together if they don't trust each other," says Dekmar. "And you've gotta acknowledge that we've got a checkered history. Police officers have done excellent and heroic things regardless who that person of race is. But on the other hand, there's things that happened that shouldn't have happened." 

And before healing can begin, Dekmar says law enforcement has an obligation to address any missteps. He was reminded of how necessary that acknowledgment is one day right outside his office. 

"There were two elderly African-American women that were in the hallway waiting to see a detective, and one of my commanders came in and told me that she'd walked by them, one whispered to the other..." they killed our people-"pointing to the officers. 

That utterance of truth set Dekmar on a path to reform how his department deals with race in policing and an apology for the role the department he now leads played in a brutal lynching before he was even born.

"You don't have four or 5,000 lynchings between 1870 and 1960 and no prosecutions without the police being actively involved or turning a blind eye or deaf ear to it," says Dekmar. "And it's not just the police, it was other components of the criminal justice system, and it was the community at large that allowed it." 

It was the apology heard around from inside Warren Temple United Methodist Church where LaGrange police chief Louis Dekmar apologized for the lynching of 16-year-old Austin Callaway; abducted from his jail cell late one night by a group of masked white men in 1940. It was the first major step in healing the racial wounds and mistrust between law enforcement and the African-American communities. 

"I've been in this community for over two decades, and I felt like I had trust in quarters of the black community," says Dekmar. "And I think I mistakenly thought that personal trust transforms into institutional trust, and that's not the case." 

Having realized this- Dekmar along with LaGrange Lieutenant and Training Coordinator Eric Lohr, have implemented fair and impartial police training to bridge the gap. 

"One of the things in the city here that we have that many other communities probably don't have is we have a racial trust-building initiative," says Lohr. "Several of our supervisors have already gone through that training, and we have some more dates scheduled."

During the training, officers are urged to leave their preconceived notions about bias training at the door. 

"What it starts with is knowing yourself...knowing what makes you tick, knowing what pushes your buttons and being able to identify those...acknowledge those so when you do go out on the street, and you're dealing with the community, you can recognize those and be able to keep those in check so that you can go out here and serve the community in a fair and impartial manner, which is critical to getting that legitimacy in the community," says Lohr. 

"When we screw up, and the officer acted reasonably, we need to explain why that happened," says Dekmar. "The other part is though, when we have somebody that didn't screw up, they intentionally inflicted harm on someone, we have an obligation to make sure they're not police officers, and if appropriate, they're prosecuted." 

A policy Dekmar would like to see in all police departments.