When it comes to police brutality, there is often a lot of daylight between what the black community and police officers themselves think about the issue.

D'Maure McManaway, a black teen, and Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Chief Bryan Roach attempted to bridge that gap recently with a simple meeting over coffee. According to the IndyStar, the two met at a local Starbucks for a Saturday morning chat, and ended up having a three-hour conversation.

"He didn't come in with a chip on his shoulder, and I didn't come in with a chip on my shoulder," said Roach. "He's a thoughtful young man, and it was a good conversation."

During the meeting, the two dove deep into the relationship between African American men and police officers.

"It was an opportunity to talk about how we train, how we want officers to treat people as people, to address the behavior but … understand that the person is a father, a mother, a son, a daughter," Roach noted. "His eyes opened a little bit that we understood that."

So, how did this come about? McManaway wanted to directly speak with a police officer for his capstone graduation project. McManaway is a senior at Tindley Accelerated School, and will be attending Indiana University in the fall. After experiencing a police stop with his friends during the Indiana State Fair that left him confused, he wanted his project to focus on police abuse and bias.

"I stopped to talk to an officer because my friends weren't calm, they were being obnoxious," D'Maure recalled of the state fair incident, which resulted in a minor altercation. He and his friends all had on matching white t-shirts, and that led officers to eye them suspiciously. "The officer asked if we were in a gang, and I said the only gang I know of that wears white is the KKK."

McManaway reflected on the incident, and realized his initial feelings weren't just about being angry that his friends weren't complying with police. "I was mad at my friends for not being quiet and listening. But when it was over, I was mad that we got stopped. I feel like it was implicit bias," he noted.

He felt like Roach heard him on that point, who said he has come to understand how black men feel when they are stopped by police. "You have an idea how people feel when you pull them over," Roach said. "They're scared."

McManaway's meeting with Roach was so successful that he doesn't plan on stopping with his capstone project. Now, McManaway is teaming up with IMPD to host an education event for middle-school students on April 3, where youth and police officers will tackle the topics of police training, identifying biases on both sides and bridging gaps between African Americans and cops. Roach will be in attendance, along with a few other officers.

"The goal," said Tindley senior capstone teacher Morgan Arthur, "Is to have kids leave the event feeling safe and secure in their relationships and their ability to interact with officers rather than being afraid of them."

Although McManaway is still a student, he said hosting the workshop for middle schooler was important to him as a form of public service.

"When you walk in that school, there's a picture of me in the hall of fame for academic stuff," he said. "I need to give back to where I came from."

Bryan Roach

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