The Stephon Clark protests have led to conversations, including on ABC10's Facebook page, about issues of race and distrust when officers police black and brown communities.
Issues of race and policing minority communities isn't new. So how did we get here? ABC10 sat down with Jonathan London, who's the Director for Regional Change at UC Davis. He's been studying communities and social justice for 20 years.
Q: Talk to us a little about the level of distrust. There seems to be a pervasive level of distrust between those communities and law enforcement.
A: "From what I understand, there's this broader sense of not being served by the city as a whole. So not getting the kinds of services, not getting the kinds of economic development. In general, there's that sense that these neighborhoods are not getting a fair shake. Add to that what some people would call over policing or there's a significant heavy police presence."
Q: Police Chief Hahn is the first African American Police Chief for the City of Sacramento. He's been transparent if we take a step back and look at his efforts. Talk to me about what impact that might have on the community if any?"
A: "What I've heard is a sense of a lot of promise. He's doing things like putting into play implicit bias training for his officers so that they can understand the perceptions or misperceptions they have for people of color."
Q: "What could you see as a possible solution?"
A: "One is economic development so that there are really opportunities for young people coming up in those neighborhoods to have a sense of hopefulness and a positive future. These are issues that have been generations in the making and to some degree they will be generations in to find the solution. So, people need to be able to stay in it for the long term."