CLINTON NEIGHBORHOOD CLASHES WITH POLICE

CLINTON -- The Lincoln Addition neighborhood is, by all accounts, a war zone
- -- a social war zone. Lincoln Addition is an all-black neighborhood known as
"The Flats," and a place where drug trafficking is purportedly as common as
civil liberty violations by local police.

"People down here are afraid to go outside their homes and walk the
streets," resident Marilyn Hester said. "They are afraid of being harassed
by the police."

The truth rests somewhere in the fog of dissension that arose in the
aftermath of a clash between residents and police during a Juneteenth
celebration -- a black history celebration -- two months ago.

Eleven people were arrested that night -- June 19 -- in what many believe
has cast a pall over Clinton's east side and the city's police department.

Amid the tension, a grassroots movement is under way by residents determined
to take their neighborhood back.

The group formed the East Clinton Improvement Coalition in March to educate
its children at a neighborhood academy, and the school has only gained
momentum since the events of June 19.

Now, 182 of Clinton's 208 black students are enrolled in the coalition's
academy, which will supplement the public school district's work with daily
after-school activities and classes.

"That's where it's really happening," said Almas Jamil Sami', a Clinton
native and one of the coalition's founders.

"At first, we were concerned that the events of June 19 would have a
negative effect on what we were doing. But the impact has been just the
opposite."

The rest is a matter of perspective.

"We have an open-air, drug market in the Lincoln Addition, and we have made
a concerted effort over the past two years to crack down on that problem,"
Clinton Police Chief Ed Smith said.

"I'm proud to say we have made a large dent in that problem. And the people
who don't want us there are the people involved in the drugs."

Smith's war on drugs has come with a price.

The department's lone canine officer, Mark Ryan, and lone black officer,
Andre Rawls, have been criticized by a faction of Lincoln Addition
residents. Both have patrolled the neighborhood regularly and were involved
in the arrests at the Juneteenth celebration and were accused of excessive
force.

Fallout from the June 19 disturbance continues to hit the streets. Rawls
formally resigned last week, saying his decision to leave the Clinton police
force had nothing to do with the public complaints issued by Lincoln
Addition residents.

He said he intends to return to college to earn a degree in criminal
justice.

Rawls also was the subject of an internal investigation by the Clinton
Police Department concerning another alleged incident of excessive force.

Smith said the complaint stemmed from a Custer County sheriff's deputy and
had nothing to do with the Lincoln Addition neighborhood.

Smith, who declined to discuss the incident in detail, told The Oklahoman
the investigation has been dropped because Rawls has resigned. Smith and
Assistant Police Chief David Crabtree said the complaints against Rawls and
Ryan are out of character.

"It's interesting that most of the complaints are made against the two
officers who have done the most to deter the drug trafficking in that
neighborhood," Crabtree said.

"I think both are young, aggressive officers who have done a good job."

Rawls said he has no regrets for his actions.

"People stand on the corner and sell drugs in plain view," Rawls said. "So
there are a lot of people in that neighborhood -- a lot of good people --
who want us down there.

"But there has never been any excessive force. Never."

Lola Adams, a neighborhood resident, disagrees.

Adams was arrested in the early hours of June 20 on the front porch of her
house. She said she was shielding the police from her son -- Robert Hester,
Jr., 32 -- whom she ordered inside the house.

Adams said that is when Ryan pulled her from the doorway by the arm, threw
her to the ground and shoved her face in the grass.

Her account is not mentioned in a police report filled out by Ryan.

Smith on Friday formally requested an independent investigation into the
incident with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

Ryan, meanwhile, declined to comment on the matter because of the
investigation.

Smith said: "Based on the evidence I have seen at this point, I think he
(Ryan) acted within his official capacity and under the ... law. He followed
our department's policies and the law."

Adams later was charged with obstructing an officer, resisting arrest and
assault and battery on an officer.

In addition, Adams' two sons, Orenthiel Hester, 30, and Robert Hester Jr.;
along with Eddie Pearson, 42; and Jamaal Hester, 19, were arrested that
night for their role in the disturbance.

Residents had gathered for Juneteenth, a celebration that dates back to June
19, 1865, when a Union general announced the freedom of slaves in Galveston,
Texas.

Police reports say the incident began when Rawls asked neighbors to pick up
their trash when they were finished. Reports say people in the crowd shouted
threats at Rawls.

Others, such as Adams, said police actions led to the incident.

"They are making the tension," Adams said of the police. "Nobody wants to be
pulled from their doorway when they aren't doing anything. Nobody was
bothering anybody. Now it's gotten to the point where people don't want to
walk the streets.

"I wish somebody would listen to what we are saying."

Representatives of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People have held one public meeting and weekly meetings with Smith.

Some Lincoln Addition residents say the issue isn't as much about race as it
is about drugs.

"Drugs are a problem in our neighborhood," said Barbara Hays, another of the
academy's founders. "We want the police in our neighborhood. If the police
weren't there, I'd be afraid."