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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

The Nebraska Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights undertook this study to ascertain the general status of police-community relations in Omaha because of its size and minority population. It is the first study on police-community relations by the Nebraska Advisory Committee. In the past the Advisory Committee has conducted studies on school

desegregation and private employment in Omaha. This study was not prompted by complaints of police brutality or abuse.

When the study began in May 1981, E.L. Stokes was Acting Chief of Police. Late in 1981 he was replaced by Jack Swanson who remained Acting Chief of Police until Robert Wadman became the Chief of Police on March 1, 1982. Advisory Committee staff, assisted by members of the police-community relations subcommittee, met with these men as well as other members of the police division, city officials, community leaders and citizens. In all, about fifty individuals were interviewed. Additional data was obtained from the police division and the city's personnel department.

After reviewing the setting, the city of Omaha and crime patterns, the Advisory Committee examines affirmative action efforts by the police division, including efforts to comply with the 1980 consent decree between the city, Midwest Guardians (an organization of black police officers), and the U.S. Department of Justice. The use of force, an important issue in police-community relations, the community perceptions of the police division, the past and current police-community relations programs, the complaint process and the police disciplinary policies are discussed.

A draft report was circulated for comments in April 1982. All persons who participated in the study were supplied with copies and encouraged to tell the Committee what errors or omissions they found. Where appropriate, all

CHAPTER 2

SETTING

The City of Omaha had a population in 1980 of 311,681, 10.2 percent less than it had in 1970. It is located in the Omaha SMSA which includes Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska and Pottawattamie County in Iowa. The black population in Omaha rose 9.9 percent in the decade, to 37,852 according to census data (but may be higher; undercounts of minorities are not unusual). That population is concentrated in the northeast sector of the city; less than five percent live west of 72nd Street, less than eight percent live south of Dodge. The center of the black population, the Center for Applied Urban Research estimates, is 34th and Pratt Streets. In fact, over half the black population lives in 15 of the 105 tracts in the SMSA. But the black population has been moving in a northwesterly direction throughout the decade. There has been a slight, but significant decline in segregation over the decade.1

The American Indian population increased 58.4 percent in Omaha during the decade but still remained a small portion (.06) of the total population. The American Indian population is less concentrated than other minorities in

Omaha, in only one census tract were as many as five percent of the inhabitants identified as American Indian.2

Hispanics in Omaha account for over one-quarter of all Hispanics in Nebraska and make up 2.3 percent of the city's population. They are increasingly concentrated in southeast Omaha.3

The city was incorporated on Feb. 12, 1857. A city marshall appointed on Mar. 5, 1857 became the first city law enforcement officer. Chiefs of Police were appointed beginning in 1887. From 1912 to 1957 the city had a commission form of government, one of the commissioners serving as police commissioner. A "home rule" city charter was adopted in 1957 and the city is now governed by

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