| Community Relations Service
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STATEMENT OF PATRICIA GLENN
NATIONAL COORDINATOR OF THE CHURCH BURNING
RESPONSE TEAM COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE (CRS),
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
BEFORE THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
MARCH 19, 1997
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:
My name is Patricia Glenn and I am the National Coordinator of the Church Burnings
Response Team for the Community Relations Service, U.S. Department of Justice. Thank you
for the invitation to participate in this hearing and to report to you on the role of the
Community Relations Service (CRS) in responding to the Nation's church burning crisis. You
have heard testimony from other Federal agencies about the investigation and prosecution of
the criminal acts, and learned about Federal programs to help rebuild the damaged and
destroyed churches.
I would like to tell you about a corollary Federal service provided over the past eight
months to more than 125 towns and cities --- helping officials and citizens find ways to ease
racial tensions and establish new ways of working together. CRS has played a complementary
role as part of the President's National Church Arson Task Force. On behalf of Rose Ochi,
Director Designate of CRS, I would like to express our appreciation to the Congress, and
especially the leadership of this Committee, for their bipartisan support for a comprehensive
national response to this challenge.
Let me begin by providing you with a brief explanation of our agency's mission. CRS
was created by Title X of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the Act, the agency is
mandated to assist local communities to resolve debilitating racial conflicts and tensions, and
prevent destructive racial violence.
In 1996, CRS, downsized to just 34 conflict resolution professionals across the
country, responded to requests from Governors, Mayors, and other community leaders in
more than 800 cases of community racial conflict. CRS, viewed by our customers as the
nation's premier conflict resolution experts, is the Justice Department's "peacemaker" for
community conflicts and tensions arising from differences over race, color, and national
origin.
Recently, CRS conciliation specialists responded to the deadly violence and costly
disturbances in Los Angeles, California; Crown Heights, New York; and St. Petersburg and
Miami, Florida. In these cities and many others, CRS was "in the streets" helping police, local
officials, and community leaders to end the violence and begin constructive dialogue. Once
stability was restored, CRS provided technical assistance and training to avert new violence
and improve police-community relations.
So when the President called for a coordinated and comprehensive Federal response to
the burning of houses of worship, it was appropriate that CRS should be called on to be a
principal partner in the Federal response. In response to the President's call and under the
leadership of Director Designate Rose Ochi, CRS mobilized a Church Burning Response Team
(CBRT). It is chaired by Ozell Sutton, our Atlanta Regional Director; coordinated in
Washington by a National Coordinator; and staffed by conciliation specialists drawn from our
Regional offices, detailees from other Justice components, and former CRS mediators.
The CRS Church Burning Response Team has focused its work on those communities
where Black churches have been burned or desecrated -- the sites where there is the greatest
potential for racial conflict. CRS recognizes that not all Black church arsons are motivated by
racism and that some may have been accidental or motivated by other reasons. However,
quite often there are heightened racial tensions in black communities when houses of worship
are burned.
The burning of Black churches brought back memories of the waves of terror during
the 1960's when the attacks upon African-American churches were calculated acts of violence
to disrupt the movement for racial justice. CBRT Chairman Sutton put the church fires in
perspective in a Congressional briefing in September 1996, when he said "A Black church to
the African-American community is far more than a place of worship. It is an attack on the
very soul of the African-American community. It is the source of their sense of humanity,
their sense of self-worth, their fighter for dignity and equality, their leader and trainer in the
struggle for freedom and justice."
To date, conciliation specialists on the CRS Response Team have helped ease racial
tensions over the church fires in more than 125 rural, suburban, and urban communities.
They work "on the ground" with local communities helping to eliminate racial distrust and
polarization, promote multiracial cooperative rebuilding efforts, train law enforcement and
community leaders, and create partnerships between minority communities and law
enforcement.
This effort would not have been possible without the leadership of Attorney General
Janet Reno, Secretary Robert Rubin, and the bipartisan support of this Committee and other
members of Congress. Our ability to respond is directly linked to Congressional approval of
the Attorney General's request to reprogram Department of Justice funds to underwrite the
work of the CRS Church Burning Response Team. These additional funds were necessary
because the Agency's staff had been reduced from 90 to 41 employees in FY 1997.
With your approval, I would like to submit to this Committee for the record our
"Interim Report on the Activities of the CRS Church Burning Response Team." The Interim
Report describes the Response Team's mission, goals, activities, and accomplishments. Let me
summarize briefly for you the contents of that report.
Director Designate Ochi established four goals for the CBRT:
- To resolve racial conflicts and reduce racial tensions in those communities in
which the fires occurred;
- To create healthy relationships between law enforcement agencies and minority
communities affected by the burnings;
- To reduce the likelihood of new church burnings in vulnerable communities
through multiracial cooperative efforts; and
- To support the mission of the National Church Arson Task Force, by keeping
lines of communication open among all the various agencies, groups, and
individuals working on the church burnings.
CRS services are based on the application of established conflict resolution practices
and procedures. The type of service provided by CRS is determined by the results of an on-site assessment of racial tensions in a community. CRS conciliators meet with elected and
public officials, police chiefs, school heads, community leaders, clergy, and others. Based on
these discussions, CRS gains an understanding of the history and dynamics of race relations in
the community where the fires occurred and learns about the impact of such an event on
current race relations. When racial conflict or tension is apparent, and local officials and
community leaders are willing to work together in programs and activities to improve racial
understanding and cooperation, CRS goes to work.
Assessments conducted in the church burning cases revealed different reasons for racial
tensions and conflict. In some communities, there were suspicions that a racist conspiracy was
behind the burning of Black churches. In others, there was concern over the pace of the
investigations and perceptions that investigators were biased or insensitive. Sometimes
tensions resulted from misunderstandings or miscommunication among Federal, State, and
local law enforcement agencies, and also, between law enforcement agencies and local
minority groups and clergy. For some communities, tensions revolved around access to
insurance and building loans or the best way to undertake a rebuilding effort. In other
communities, there were no detectable racial tensions; levels of communication, trust, and
cooperation were high.
The potential for racial tension and conflict is present not merely during the immediate
aftermath of a church fire, but throughout each step of the criminal justice process. The
arrest, indictment, conviction, and sentencing of a church arsonist or vandal are all potential
flashpoints for racial tension or conflict. Anger may be directed at the person arrested, law
enforcement officer, prosecutor, grand jury, jury, or a judge. The source of conflict often can
be over differences of perception between officials and citizens. Without good ways to bridge
these differences, racial tensions can escalate and conflicts may occur. In anticipation of these
possibilities, the National Church Arson Task Force issued guidance to law enforcement
agencies on "Best Practices" to reduce the prospect of negative reactions.
There are five services which the CRS Church Burning Response Team has provided
local communities:
The first service is to mediate community conflicts. For example, in Tennessee, CRS
helped two communities settle conflicts over the rebuilding of their churches. When the
Tigrett Mount Pleasant Baptist Church's application for a building permit was denied due to
unsuitable soil conditions, CRS worked with the church's minister, and county and State
officials to reach a settlement which cleared the way for new construction. In Columbia,
Tennessee, CRS mediated an agreement between the Friendship Baptist Church and city
government over the location for the new church.
The second service is to ease racial tensions by facilitating dialogues between
concerned officials and citizens. In the aftermath of two church burnings in Boligee,
Alabama, CRS facilitated a dialogue between the City Council and black residents. This effort
eased tensions and opened discussions between black and white citizens and between black and
white government officials in Greene County. As a result, a community group formed the
"Rebuilding Community Relations Task Force," which will sponsor community projects
exemplifying racial cooperation, including a "Fourth of July Homecoming Celebration" and
renovation of the historic county court house as a cultural center and museum.
The third service is to design and present training programs for law enforcement and
other public agencies. Our assessments revealed that State and local law enforcement
agencies wanted training programs to improve their management of community conflicts and
to strengthen their relationship with local minority organizations and communities. CRS is
working with the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance and FEMA in
organizing training for State and local law enforcement agencies. CRS will offer training
programs requested by local and State law enforcement agencies on effective response to bias-motivated crimes and sound community relations practices.
Alabama was the site of the first statewide training meeting. On October 24, 1996,
CRS, the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and the Alabama Sheriffs' Association convened its
first meeting in Birmingham, Alabama. More than 30 law enforcement representatives from
State, county, and local agencies discussed how to work together to respond to the needs of
citizens and churches victimized by church burnings. In June 1997, CRS will join with the
U.S. Attorney and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) in the Northern
District of Alabama, to conduct training in arson prevention, community conflict resolution,
and hate crime awareness.
The fourth service is to provide information about programs and services available to
rebuild the churches. The CRS Church Burning Response Team has assembled information
about church rebuilding programs available from charitable organizations and government
agencies, including the Federal Loan Guarantee Recovery Fund administered by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development. Many of the affected churches are located in
remote areas, have small memberships and limited resources, and are unfamiliar with the
government processes associated with funding applications. At conferences in Tennessee and
North Carolina, CRS provided information on sources, processes, and contact points for
rebuilding funds.
The fifth service is to provide technical assistance on the establishment of church arson
prevention programs. For example, in Houston and San Antonio, Texas, CRS helped
establish community education seminars on church arson prevention. Community and
religious leaders, and representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Offices, FBI, ATF, police and
fire departments, and insurance companies joined the programs. Local police departments in
both cities have instituted church arson prevention patrols as a result of these seminars.
The well-being of a community can be measured by how government and citizens come
together during times of crisis. Crimes motivated by racial animosity require a special
response. The Community Relations Service takes pride in the important work it has rendered
over the past eight months to more than 125 communities affected by church burnings. As
devastating as these attacks have been, they have proven to be challenges for these
communities to discover their own strengths. They have shown us how people of good will
can come together, joining hands in rebuilding not merely the physical structure of the church,
but weaving a new community fabric with the threads of trust and faith.
CRS's work is not finished. Church burnings continue. In those communities where
there is racial antagonism, CRS mediators will be available to provide conflict prevention and
resolution services.
Thank you for the opportunity to report on the work of the Community Relations
Service Church Burnings Response Team.