Systemic Racism In Police Department? St. Pete Mayoral Debate

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — The question of whether there is systemic racism in the St. Petersburg Police Department drew differing opinions from the eight mayoral candidates at a debate Tuesday.

The Decision 2021 St. Petersburg Mayoral Debate covered topics including gun violence, systemic racism, and privatizing marinas. Patch will post a series of stories with candidates' views from the June 22 debate.

All candidates were virtually present for the debate: City Council members Darden Rice and Robert Blackmon, former Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, former city council member and state representative Wengay Newton, entrepreneur Pete Boland, former political operative and marketer Marcile Powers, University of South Florida political science student Michael Ingram, and non-partisan St. Petersburg resident Torry Nelson.

Related: How To Proceed With Rays: 8 St. Pete Mayoral Candidates Discuss

Wengay Newton: “I don’t think it’s a problem with our police department as it is with one of our mayoral candidates, Mr. Welch,” Newton said.

Newton said he was born and raised in St. Petersburg, and it pains him to see racism and hate in the city.

"Police get blamed for a lot of that stuff, but a lot of that's not their fault," he said. He believes community conversations and exploring other options would help bring communities and police together. He was not specific on what the other options were.

Ken Welch: Welch did not respond to Newton after he was given extra time to address the comment.

"You know, 30 years ago, I wrote an article as a Times guest editorial writer about being profiled by police in another part of the county, in Largo. I happen to have had law enforcement officers with me, we played in a Christian band. And that experience stuck with me, and that still happens to this day. And so every department has to be accountable, and they have to have leadership from the top down about what would be accepted. Every part of our community needs to be treated with respect. Having said that, we need to be in touch with the community."

Welch said he has attended conversations about gun violence with the NAACP after St. Petersburg has experienced 18 murders this year. Police officers took part in the conversations, too, and that's what he believes the city needs.

"You can't lead if you're not with the people."

Check back with Patch Thursday, June 24, to read each St. Petersburg mayoral candidates' views on gun violence.

Darden Rice: "I think it's important to define systemic racism because systemic racism most certainly does exist," Rice said. "It doesn't mean that an individual is a racist, it means that systems like education, healthcare, banking and housing and the criminal justice system certainly retain vestiges of what was racist policies that still persist to this day. So the criminal justice system has a lot of systemic racism that is left over. I'm certainly not saying that anyone individually is a racist, but we have to be honest and recognize there are certain things we have inherited over the decades that are here because originally it benefited one group of people over another. I will tell you that as mayor, there will be absolutely no corner that a white supremacist can hide in our police department. But they aren't there now. Nor will they ever be, and we'll continue to make everyone safe in our city."

Marcile Powers: Powers believes that systemic racism exists everywhere, but with the police department, their own promise is an issue more than anything else.

"I would like to see all of our police officers go through internal family therapy systems, and have to work through their own childhood traumas. And many of our police officers are vets, so they also need to work through their own issues from various traumas they've had in their life from childhood to adulthood."

Robert Blackmon: "Well, peaceful protests are part of our democratic process, and I fully support the right of anybody to share their opinion, and it always makes us better. We can only learn from hearing more viewpoints. That being said, I wanna make it clear that I do not believe racism is a problem in our police department, and I fully support our officers. We have one of the most divers police departments in the entire nation, and our diversity is what makes us so strong. That being said that we can curb crime by supporting our police. Ya know, I lived in Midtown-St. Petersburg for a number of years across from Melrose Elementary on 13th Avenue South, and all the time people asked for more officers. And with the murder rate up and violet crime up in our city, we need more officers because every neighborhood in our city deserves to be safe and feel safe when they go home and put their head down on their pillow at night."

Pete Boland: Boland, a St. Pete native, referred to the Tyron Lewis killing by a St. Petersburg officer in 1996, and said he has been paying attention to civil disobedience, and he thinks systemic racism exists in America, and a lot of institutions, but he does not think it's a pervasive problem with St. Pete police. He credits Chief Holloway for educating officers on diversity, and strengthening the department in those areas.

"We keep locking up black and brown people over marijuana, and it doesn't make sense. If we're really going to move forward with this issue, we've got to end the failed war on drugs."

Michael Ingram: "I believe that the most important thing for our police department is accountability. Systemic racism exists on all levels of the United States. Even if we haven't had any incidences of it, we need to bulletproof ourselves against potential future incidents. So the most important thing is not whether or not there is systemic racism, but ensuring that there is no home for systemic racism on any level of our department, whether that be with the police department, or how we zone our different districts."

Torry Nelson: "Well to answer your question, I don't have a squeaky clean background but I think my experiences have prepared me to do this job. I understand it from both spectrums. The police department needs to be supported. They need someone like me to introduce them to the community. To build trust, and open the communication with the police department."

Results from a recent survey shows Welch as the first choice out of the candidates. "If the election for Mayor of St. Petersburg were held today and the candidates were Robert Blackmon, Peter Boland, Michael Ingram, Torry Nelson, Wengay Newton, Marcile Powers, Darden Rice and Ken Welch, who would you vote for?

Robert Blackmon: 12.2 percent

Peter Boland: 2.4 percent

Darden Rice: 12.3 percent

Michael Ingram: 3.0 percent

Ken Welch: 20.4 percent

Torry Nelson: 2.0 percent

Wengay Newton: 12.9 percent

Unsure: 33.9 percent

Survey was conducted by StPetePolls2021

Election Reminder

St. Petersburg primary elections are scheduled for Aug. 24; The two candidates receiving the most votes in each district will be placed on the Nov. 2 municipal general election ballot.

The registration deadline for the primary elections is July 26. Visit Pinellas County Supervisor of Elections website to register or update your address.

Tuesday's debate was hosted by Bay News 9 and the Tampa Bay Times.