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PROVO — Provo Police Chief John King was an officer in Baltimore and knows it can be a great place.
But he is very disappointed by what he's seen on TV this week.
"There is no excuse for the behavior we saw last night from the community. You had the peaceful demonstrations, which I was very proud of because I believe in the First Amendment. People have the right to hold police accountable. But the unlawfulness that has been going on is not a form of protest.
"They're just the thugs and criminals that drive Baltimore's crime rate … just having a field day thinking they can get away with it," he said.
King worked as a patrol officer for the Baltimore Police Department in 1981 and later returned in 2012 to become the department's director of training. He has a daughter and son-in-law who still live in Baltimore, and he admits he is concerned for their safety. One of his daughter's co-workers at a downtown hospital was randomly assaulted while walking to work this week.
But King believes there is plenty of blame to pass around on all sides for the situation Baltimore is in.
"Baltimore has the potential to be a great city. But potential can only get you so far, and it's failed in many of its attempts to do that," he said.
Likewise, the riots hit close to home for West Valley Police Chief Lee Russo, who worked for 22 years in the Baltimore County Police Department.
Despite their disappointment, neither Russo nor King said they are overly surprised at what has happened this week.
Related:
Baltimore on edge: National Guardsmen take up positions
National Guardsmen took up positions across the city and hundreds of volunteers swept broken glass and other debris from the streets Tuesday, the morning after riots erupted following the funeral of a black man who died in police custody."It highlights the existing tensions, not only in Baltimore City, but the existing tensions that exist across the United States right now regarding this issue of police use of force and issues surrounding deadly force," Russo said.
The crime rate in Baltimore has been historically high, at one time having the highest murder rate in the country.
Both King and Russo said there have been administrations that helped reduce the crime rate better than others.
King — who said he talked to several of his former colleagues on a cell phone Monday but had to cut off their conversations early because rocks were being thrown at them — said the Baltimore Police Department has traditionally had one of the highest turnover rates in the country.
"The police department there clearly has major issues they have to deal with," he said. "(Utahns) may not understand sort of the tension that's there. But the African-American community in many of our cities is distrusting of the police for a variety of reasons, but especially in Baltimore because it's been well-documented about some police practices and abuses. It's sad because, I tell you, Baltimore has the potential to be a great American city.
They're just the thugs and criminals that drive Baltimore's crime rate … just having a field day thinking they can get away with it.
–Provo Police Chief John King
"One of the reasons I came to Provo was to play on the A-Team again and have a place where you could be proud to wear the uniform and to work for a government that cares," he said.
Both King and Russo believe the city needs to get back to community policing. Russo said now that Baltimore has the nation's attention, it has the opportunity to open a dialogue about how the police department does business and what expectations officers have for citizens.
"How does a community want to be policed? How do communities want to interact with their law enforcement entities? And that's not a one-time discussion. That is an ongoing discussion that has to be evolved," Russo said.
He said that's why when he became chief of West Valley City, he started holding monthly meetings with residents to help create an openness between the police department and its community.
Russo believes that the majority of citizens, including those in Baltimore, support their local law enforcement agencies. He concurs with King that the riots are being caused by a vocal small number of people.
Contributing: Nkoyo Iyamba
