Ministers Renew Call For Community-Police Cooperation In Wake Of Wilkinsburg Tragedy
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Wilkinsburg crime scene, the markers of the shell casings and the raw emotions that come with it are not new to Rev. Thomas Mitchell, the associate pastor of Covenant Church.
It brought back what he felt in 2002 after an ambush shooting at Mr. Tommy's Restaurant in Homewood.
The wheelchair the prosecutor wheeled into the courtroom at trial in 2004 belonged to his son, Thomas Mitchell. He was confined to that wheelchair when he was shot 10 times.
He was killed along with two others, including an 8-year-old girl.
Two young men were eventually convicted of targeting his son and killing anyone else who was in the way.
"We're going to have to talk to police," said Rev. Mitchell. "Police can't be our enemies. If they're serving us, they can't be our enemies."
That's what he's taken away from his experience, and through the "Meet the Beat Cops" program is trying to expose people to police, hoping to remove a stigma.
"We also invited some of the youth in to come and sit at the table and ask the police officers' questions. We made sure we did not bring any cases into it. It was personal. Where do your kids go to school? What do you enjoy? Get to know them on a personal level," he said.
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Rev. Maurice Trent, of Lighthouse of Pittsburgh, who is active in anti-violence campaigns and who ministers to the victim's family in the Wilkinsburg case, knows there's a fear factor in cooperating with police.
"Anybody can be in danger at any time, but you have to look and say, 'This is something that's bigger than me,'" said Trent. "I have to speak up and do what I can do as a citizen."
That Wilkinsburg Meet the Cops Program is coordinated through the Wilkinsburg Ministerium and the Sanctuary Project.
