Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 5-31-16 Online Edition

Features
University Of Tampa Professor Wants More Diversity
Police To Host Three
BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer
Growing up in Progress Village, Dr. Adrianne Wil- son said the University of Tampa was thought to be a school for them, not us.
Today, Dr. Wilson is an assistant professor at the University of Tampa, and she’s striving to increase the number of minorities on the school’s faculty staff.
Dr. Wilson attended Tampa Bay Vocational Tech- nical High School with dreams of entering nursing. However, after her first se- mester at the University of South Florida, she started thinking more long range when it came to her future.
“I studied education at USF, and stayed on to attain my Master’s and Doctorate. After graduating from USF, I worked at Sickles, Middle- ton, and King High Schools before working at the direct level with the School District evaluating my peers.
“I always envisioned being
a part of a college curriculum as an instructor, and decided to take a chance without any expectations. I felt if it was meant to be, it would hap- pen.”
This August, Dr. Wilson will be celebrating her 3rd year at the University of Tampa where she teaches graduate and undergraduate courses, as well as diversity and educational leadership.
“I’m still trying to feel my way around the campus, and my plans are to keep going, and see where it takes me. This March, I became a sen- ior tract faculty member.”
Dr. Wilson said the Uni- versity of Tampa has taken steps to increase diversity on its faculty, but tenured fac- ulty members are few.
“I’m hoping to be a part of the University of Tampa family for a long time, and bring in more diversity. I’d like to one day be an admin- istrator.”
Dr. Wilson said she was inspired by so many people, especially her parents.
On Bicycle Ticketing
Community Forums
“Growing up in Progress Village kept me focused and grounded because of all the things that were going on.
“I feel no pressure to be an ambassador for other mi- norities. I do hope my suc- cess will inspire others and help motivate them.”
Dr. Wilson is married to Van Buren Middle School Principal, Ovette Wilson, and they have two sons.
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last year, the Tampa Bay Times newspaper ran an expose’ focusing on bicycle ticketing in predominantly African American neighbor- hoods.
The series of articles high- lighted the disproportionate rate in which Blacks riding bi- cycles were stopped and given tickets.
The series of articles stated that Tampa Police wrote more tickets in African Amer- ican neighborhoods than those written in the cities of Miami, Orlando, St. Peters- burg, and Jacksonville com- bined.
Mayor Bob Buckhorn and then Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor asked the De- partment of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Polic- ing launch an investigation into the practice. The out- pouring of concern from the community also resulted in Mayor Buckhorn creating a Citizen’s Review Board by Ex- ecutive Order.
Last month, the Depart- ment of Justice released a re- port of its findings. The report acknowledged that while a disproportionate number of Blacks were given citations, there was no evidence of dis- crimination.
The report did state, how- ever, that the number of tic- kets written were unfair and ineffective at reducing crime.
In response to that report, Chief Eric Ward will host three community forums to address the issue of Blacks being ticketed. The forums are designed to gather infor- mation and feedback from the community.
Chief Ward said, “The purpose of us hosting these community forums is to give the public insight into the progress we’ve made on im- plementing the recommenda- tions from the COPS Office.
“After I was sworn in as Chief, I started conducting my own analysis of proce- dures and initiatives depart- ment-wide to evaluate how we could operate more effec- tively to reduce crime, while still achieving our goal of strengthening relationships with the community. My analysis ran concurrent with the COPS Office review and provided us with a jumpstart on addressing several con- cerns before the COPS Office provided their final report and recommendations.”
The forums will take place in three locations, beginning next month. All three forums will begin at 6:30 p.m. and conclude at 8 p.m.
The first forum will take place on Tuesday, June 7th at Hillsborough Community College, Dale Mabry Campus, Student Services Auditorium, 4001 West Tampa Bay Boulevard.
The second forum will take place on Wednes- day, June 8th, at Springhill Community Center, 1000 East Es- kimo Avenue.
The third forum will take place on Thursday, June 9th, in the audito- rium at Middleton High School, 4801 N. 22nd Street.
Chief Ward said, “We hope the community will come out and learn how the department plans to move forward. This is also an op- portunity for us to hear from the public and engage in healthy, productive dialogue which is essential to our goal of building community-based to help combat crime.”
Revamping of Citizen’s Review Board
After the newspaper arti- cles, then City Councilman Chairman Frank Reddick called for the creation of a Cit- izen’s Review Board to review complaints against the Tampa Police Department.
At the time, Councilman Reddick said if the Depart- ment of Justice had found grounds to support claims of discrimination, they could re- quire a Citizen’s Review Board as they had in other cities and mandate its criteria. He felt if the city created its own board, then it could set the rules and procedures.
In the final analysis, Mayor Buckhorn selected five members and two alter- nates. Members of the City Council selected four others to serve a 4-year term on the 11-member board.
DR. ADRIANNE WILSON
CHIEF ERIC WARD Tampa Police Chief
PAGE 4 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MAY 31, 2016