Melrose Hoover Incident Anything But Black-And-White Issue

MELROSE, MA — On Friday, Feb. 9, just prior to dismissal, police responded to a 911 call at the Hoover Elementary School about a man urinating next to the building. More specifically, three cruisers and several officers responded to a report of a black man urinating next to the building. Those specifics are important. They are what have been driving a conversation on race in Melrose for the last week.

The conversation is fueled by two questions: Was the situation handled properly? Does it even matter that it was? The answers depend on who you talk to.

While city, school, and police officials will tell you it was more or less by the book, many parents have expressed dismay at not only the response, but the lack of acknowledgment that the book itself needs to change.

What happened?

According to a police report, a letter sent from Superintendent Cindy Taymore to Hoover parents, and witnesses, the incident went like this: On Friday at about 2:10 p.m. a Hoover teacher saw a man urinating in view of a classroom of kindergarten students. The students apparently didn't see the man in the act. The teacher reported it to the administration, and the police were called.

The response included three police cars - including one that rushed the wrong way down one-way Glendower Street to get to the tucked-away Hoover School.

This is where it gets sticky: Some parents were displeased that three cruisers and multiple officers gathered in front of the school for what they said is an older man who essentially chose a very bad place to pee. Other parents were distressed that the students would be dismissed into such a scene.

But many parents were downright incredulous to discover the man who elicited the response was black, and they have openly questioned whether his race had to do with the level of response.

As it turned out, the man, who Patch is not naming as to protect the identity of his granddaughter, was picking up the girl from school. Police were presented with a language barrier, something the girl helped bridge. Officers got the man's son on the phone, and he provided an explanation.

The police report indicated the man may have a related medical condition. No citations were issued or charges filed, though the police report indicates it was agreed by all parties the man would not be picking up his granddaughter anymore.

Was it handled properly?

The answer appears to be, technically, yes.

Mayor Gail Infurna, who opened the School Committee meeting by addressing the incident, said she requested Police Chief Michael Lyle conduct an internal investigation of the incident. That investigation led Lyle to conclude the "Department's response to this incident was reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances," according to a letter obtained by Patch sent from Lyle to Infurna.

"The responding and assisting officers showed no bias toward the involved party, nor did any officer touch or intimate this person," Lyle wrote.

Lyle wrote that he spoke to the officers involved, reviewed the 911 and police dispatch recordings, and viewed the surveillance video before coming to the conclusion.

Lyle doubled down this week, saying the safety of the children was the top concern.

"I commend my officers, they showed professionalism. There was no bias toward this individual other than the fact he was pointed out by a description," Lyle told Patch over the phone. "If that was to happen tomorrow or next week you'd get the same response from the Melrose Police Department. The first words are that someone is exposing himself, and as conversation goes on - he may be just urinating - you don't know. Your emergency and my emergency may be two different thought processes."

Lyle said the initial call didn't have a description of the man or mention of his race. "[The officers] are rolling and then they get the description," he said.

Lyle said the video he reviewed showed the officers handled it professionally, attempting to have a conversation with the man and making no physical contact with him. Once they got more information from the man's son, they began to wrap things up.

"We're still rolling for the unknown," Lyle told Patch. "I'm sorry if some people were offended by it."

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Infurna also defended the police response.

"I understand the response by three police cars as well as one of them driving the opposite direction on a one-way street may have frightened those who witnessed it," Infurna told the School Committee. "Please keep in mind that this was a 911 call and the police were responding to a building with over 250 students and teachers. It cannot be stressed enough that our police are typically unaware when responding to a 911 call how potentially dangerous or unsafe a situation may be."

Taymore did not have comment when reached by Patch, though she did say Infurna's statement regarding Taymore's assessment that Hoover staff "followed all protocols and procedures for such an incident" was correct.

Is it a big deal?

Jaron Green has a unique perspective of the incident.

Green, a minister, is closing on his doctorate in Education from Northeastern. He's been a social worker and a family therapist, working intimately with people of all different races. He's also the father of one of two black girls in his daughter's third-grade class - the other being the man's granddaughter.

He was also about one car removed as the scene unfolded Friday.

"The decision to call the police ... whether it was warranted or not, produced a terrible sentiment," Green told the School Committee Tuesday and the Human Rights Commission Wednesday.

"After witnessing this, I cannot help but get the sense that the same response would not have been garnered if the elderly gentleman had not been described as black."

Green, who said the incident prompted him to apply Thursday for one of the open positions on the Human Rights Commission, told Patch he heard from parents who felt the same way. He said officials' response shows the width of a gap that must be bridged.

"I just think there was a complete lack of cultural competence in this scenario, and that's where the harm was done," Green said over the phone. "It was a definite breach to the culture of safety. The image that is portrayed is that a black man is dangerous and this is the response warranted even when you don't know what's wrong."

Green said the incident occurred more or less as reported by police and school officials. He also said Principal Carol Weldin asked his daughter who she was going home with while the man's granddaughter wandered alone after seeing no one in her family's parked vehicle.

"There are two black girls in the class, my daughter and another girl. She stopped my child. Is it because all black people look alike? That's a leadership problem in a small school."

Green said Weldin offered to meet him after he sent an email to the principal and Taymore. Green agreed, but he said he was told he couldn't meet at the same school other parents - white parents - had met with Weldin to discuss concerns. He said he was told the meeting had to take place with Taymore and at her office.

"The nuances of intimidation, and the layers of prejudice prevalent in our current society-at-large are too complex to unpack in one statement," he said at the Human Rights Commission meeting.

Beth Hampson, herself a former teacher and now a racial justice educator and co-facilitator of the White People Challenging Racism class in Melrose, has three children who attend the Hoover. She was approaching the school when she saw the cruiser come the wrong way up Glendower.

"I know the incident was not driven by intentional racial bias. I feel strongly however that we cannot separate the incident from where we are racially and politically in this country," Hampson said to open public comment at the School Committee meeting. "To deny the racialized aspect of this situation would be sticking our heads in the sand and a missed opportunity."

Hampson echoed Green's feeling that harm was done, even if it couldn't be seen.

"This messaging perpetuates the image of the black man as dangerous," she said.

"The relationship the white community has with the police is very different than the relationship the black community has with the police."

Where do we go from here?

For as inclusive a city as Melrose is, there were less than 900 black residents as of the 2015 Census. That was out of more than 27,000 residents. That's roughly three percent.

So maybe policy was followed. Maybe procedure was strictly adhered to. But the discussion has to go beyond that, Adam LaFrance said.

"It's not so much trying to find fault, but is there an opportunity to discuss this, unpack it," LaFrance told Patch before he chaired Wednesday night's Human Rights Commission meeting.

After the meeting, which saw several people share concerns, LaFrance said he hopes more conversation will follow.

"On the whole, there was general appreciation for the protocol that was followed yet constructive feedback on aspects at the school level on which there might be some adjustments made going forward," he said. "The anticipation is that the conversation will continue among the interested parties to see what can be worked out."

"The arc of justice must bend," Green said at the Wednesday meeting. "Through difficult, honest, deep and meaningful discourse, our town government, including school leadership, has to be able to admit when harm has occurred. To only stubbornly respond that everything was done perfectly right is a proud, pompous disposition. To not be willing to view conflicts through a cultural lens negates the opportunity for learning and deepened mutual respect."

The ACLU of Massachusetts was not aware of the incident when reached by Patch.

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Photo by Mike Carraggi