Pastor William Bell, the host of “All Things Fulfilled,” spoke with Robyn Walensky on “Wake Up Memphis” about the tumultuous relations between the black community and law enforcement.
For years, the relationship between law enforcement and the black community has been unstable. This issue came to a head at the murder of George Floyd. Pastor Bell said that there have been many negative incidents between cops and the black community.
“That, at least, calls for some attention,” Bell said.The viral incident of two cops and a black man at a Wendy’s in Atlanta that later led to the burning down of that establishment has been in the spotlight nationally. Pastor Bell added that he spoke to someone in the legal field in regards to the taser that the suspect stole from the officer and fired at him. The police officer shot the suspect twice in response during the chase, and the suspect later died.
“You cannot have the police saying that a taser is a nonlethal weapon when they use it,” Bell said, “but when it’s in the hand of a citizen it becomes a lethal weapon.”
Although it feels like the United States is the only one with these problems, that’s just not the case.
“This is not just a problem that we have here in America,” Bell added. “It’s a problem that is experienced around the world and it just continues on, and it needs to be addressed.”One way some people are wanting problems to be solved is just to defund the police force completely.
“I certainly am not for eliminating the police departments altogether,” Bell said. “We need them for law and order in society. All policemen are not like the ones we often hear about in the news.”
While the media pushes a certain narrative, there are still many issues that need to be resolved, and this could be solved by reforming the police.“What we have to eliminate is the kind of behavior that is unlawful,” Bell added. “Our police departments are being trained in military-type tactics.”
The way that Pastor Bell said for people to respond to the chaos in the current climate is not violence. He added that we should channel the anger into strategic actions and positive avenues like constructive conversations.
“The Bible says to be angry but sin not,” he said.
