The Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - Five white city police officers walked out of a recent multicultural training session, saying the black instructor was biased against the United States, authority figures and white people.
The Aug. 28 session, designed to increase sensitivity between officers and the largely minority population they serve, was temporarily suspended because of the complaints, The Hartford Courant reported.
“I’m a Gulf War vet, and I shouldn’t have to sit and listen to someone bad-mouth my country,” said Officer Darren Besse, one of the officers who walked out of the class after it deteriorated into a shouting match between the instructor and the officers.
Besse said he and the four other officers were not opposed to the eight-hour training session. But he said the instructor, Margaret Steinegger-Keyser of the Center for Conflict Transformation in Hartford, took her mission too far.
Steinegger-Keyser, a native of South Africa who moved to the United States four years ago, told the gathering of officers that her country has become more of a true democracy, Besse and other officers who attended the session told the newspaper.
The officers said Steinegger-Keyser went on to say South Africa was less oppressive of minorities than the United States in the 10 years since apartheid and white minority rule were overthrown.
“She made it really clear that she thought our country was racist and that police in general contributed to the problems in our country,” Besse said. “She’s saying all this a few days before the Sept. 11 anniversary. It just didn’t sit right with us.”
Steinegger-Keyser, whose work in conflict resolution has otherwise been widely hailed by police and other city officials, said she did not intend for her comments to be taken as an indictment of America.
“I never said anything against the U.S., and I regret that it’s been interpreted that way,” she said. “I was merely pointing to South Africa as an illustration of an oppressive regime that was transformed into an open democracy through peace-building and mediation.”
At least three black officers also attended the session, but it was not clear if they were as offended by Steinegger-Keyser’s comments as the white officers.
The sessions, which are mandatory for all officers in the 380-member department, began in early August.
Besse and other officers said Steinegger-Keyser became combative when they challenged her assertions about South Africa and the United States, especially when one officer questioned her about persistent violence and unrest in her country caused by blacks.
Steinegger-Keyser’s organization is part of the Plowshares Institute, a Simsbury-based peace organization that was once nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Robert Rudewicz, a former Hartford police captain who served as acting chief until current Chief Bruce P. Marquis was hired in 2000, said he benefited from a similar training session with Steinegger-Keyser.
“I spent three days in that training and I never got the sense that she was critical of our country or our department,” said Rudewicz, who is white.
Since the classes were suspended, police training supervisors have met with staff members of the conflict medication center, said
Sgt. Maura Hammick, a police department spokeswoman, said the sessions will resume later this month and instructors have agreed to clarify their remarks to avoid misunderstandings.