NASHUA – In wake of recent protests, conversations revolving around race and justice continue to occur in Nashua, as they have for years.

On Friday, Rep. Annie Kuster hosted a virtual discussion with the Nashua Community Conversation on Race and Justice (NCCRJ). Joining her on this conference call was the city’s Chief of Police Michael Carignan, State Sen. Melanie Levesque and President of the Greater Nashua Area Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Gloria Timmons.

“I mourn with the family and the loved ones of George Floyd and all of the victims of violence in communities across America that feel the pain of systemic racism and pervasive inequality,” Kuster said.

The congress woman said the Nashua Police Department in conjunction with the NCCRJ is undertaking exactly the type of dialogue that needs to happen so much more in the country. Timmons is also a co-founder of the NCCRJ, which has been happening for years now.

Timmons said that after receiving many complaints about the Nashua Police Department, the Nashua Area Branch of the NAACP and Southern New Hampshire Outreach for Black Unity (OBU) called former Chief of Police Andrew Lavoie for a meeting in 2014. After several conversations with Lavoie, they opened up a continuous dialogue, with active community members who were invited to join the conversation. Timmons said these are members from Rivier University, OBU, Nashua Cultural Connections, the NAACP, Nashua Police Department and the community at large. They have been incorporated since 2018.

“We are one city, one people and one country,” Timmons said. “It can’t be anything else.”

Carignan said that the process with NCCRJ has been going on since 2014 and 2015 and has been an effort that most importantly continues. Those conversations started at the time of the Ferguson, Missouri protests that erupted following the death of Michael Brown in August of 2014. At this time, emotions were running high, there was tension and many questions were raised as anger was felt.

Carignan further explained that anything goes with these conversations between police officers and citizens. He said it is very important to ask those uncomfortable questions, and although it can be difficult to hear and answer them, there is openness on the part of officers to listen and answer.

Additionally, Carignan said they have moved into the high schools, citing the importance of being able to listen to high school students and how they view the police, how they view the relationships with police, but also have them view how officers views are and what they see during a traffic stop and why they do some of the things police do.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, there’s a lot of relationship building and understanding to have to happen on many different levels, but I think that work is happening and it continues to happen,” Carignan said. “And we as a police department are willing to have those conversations and make that happen, and the amount of community members that have been involved and taken part in it has been overwhelming. It’s been great.”

Levesque is the first African American senator for the state of New Hampshire and she said when it comes to social justice and the death of George Floyd, last week was a tough one for her as it was for many people. She said she was horrified at the sight of watching someone on television have their life taken from them and is saddened by where the country is right now. However, she believes this situation has awakened people.

“The violence and the rioting is something that does not move us forward,” Levesque said. “We need to be better people from this and again, I understand the hate and the hurt that is going on right now, but in order to get beyond it we need things like social justice reforms, we need to look at our laws and look at how they’re impacting people of minorities. We also need to build relationships with our community, with our law enforcement departments.”

Moreover, when it comes to hiring the right people at the Nashua Police Department, there is an extensive testing process including written tests, physical fitness tests, background tests, psychological tests, drug tests and polygraph tests. Carignan said all of those things are the best possible way to vet candidates to make sure these people are intelligent, willing to engage in conversations with people and mature enough to handle the authority and power that comes with the position.

In terms of training, Carignan also said the department spends a lot of money to train police officers constantly. Training involves use of force and teaching them when to and when not to use it. It also deals with how to escalate and deescalate properly. The department has a video simulator for scenarios when training officers. However, Carignan said it is also just as important to have cultural competency training.

“It’s about understanding all the different cultures in Nashua and if you can understand some of those nuances and respect the differences and where they may be coming from, then it allows you to have a much more effective interaction where your guards not up or their guards not up and you’re able to communicate effectively and peacefully to get accomplished what you want to accomplish,” Carignan explained.

The department is also nationally accredited by the Commission on Accreditation For Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) standards and Carignan believes police agencies across the country should strive for that.

In any event, Carignan in terms of Saturday’s vigil, he said it is important for everyone to remember to remain peaceful. He wants the vigil and protest to be constructive, not destructive. By that he wants people to know there is something in Nashua to allow people to express their opinions and ask questions. He encourages people who find themselves needing to express themselves to show up to these meetings. Carignan said this mechanism has been very successful to get that energy and expressiveness out, again encouraging people who may be feeling frustrated or angry to show up.

“The protests that we have had across our country and around the world have not just been black people of course, it’s blacks and whites and every color,” Levesque said. “We all want to change what’s happening right now.”

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Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.