It was in 1968, on January 16, when Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The impact that this man created on the civil and human rights movement was so significant, that no one could have imagined that in 2017 the City of Lawrence would need a leader of his stature but if Dr. King is looking down, he must be very disappointed that his teachings did not work here.
Nearly 50 years after his death, the people of Lawrence are victims of official insensitivity, both of the police and of some well-documented officers, who line up in violation of those rights for which King so much fought for.
We ended the year with the sad case of Lee Manuel Viloria Paulino, the 16-year-old youngster whose body was found, mutilated, on the banks of the Merrimack River on December 1, 2016, 13 days after his family declared him missing on 18 November. On December 2, Mayor Daniel Rivera and Police Chief James X Fitzpatrick convened a press conference to say, “The Police have been working tirelessly with family and other agencies since the young Viloria-Paulino was reported as disappeared on Friday, November 18, 2016.”
The day after these statements, at the family press conference, Ivelisse Cornielle, Lee’s grandmother categorically denied that Lawrence’s police had made any effort to locate Lee. “In fact, we gave Detective Jay Heggarty a pamphlet when he finally came to visit us and left it on the couch. He did not even take it!” said Cornielle at that time.
Fifty-five days have passed since his disappearance was reported, 42 days since his body was identified and we only know that there is a detained minor who has pleaded not guilty to the crime. How many more days are left?
Now Lawrence has started the New Year on a very negative note. We refer to the case of Lawrence Police Officer William Green who had been removed from office for publicly expressing his opinion of the way the department for which he works, operates.
For this and other reasons, Officer Green received a letter signed by Mayor Daniel Rivera on January 3, 2017, informing him that his separation of his position effective on December 8 was rescinded and ordered him to report to work on January 10, 2017, when he would receive his working gear which he had previously returned to the city.
Following the order, Officer Green showed up at the Police Station where his access was denied with instructions to leave the site immediately, but not before being given a letter where he was placed in Administrative Leave with pay, pending a series of investigations that are taking place.
It is obvious that Officer Green is paying a heavy price for expressing himself against the system operating within the organization where he serves: the Lawrence Police Department. It is also evident that in the situation in which he was, he had only two options, to remain silent and allow things to continue as he saw them, or make the complaints that have irritated the authorities who think things are wonderful and should continue without making any changes.
There is an old proverb that says, “Don’t go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trial.” This proverb portrays Dr. King’s attitude. He risked everything, and peacefully got the result he was looking for although lately it seems that we have departed from the path he left us.
We can place Officer Green along the same line. He has risked his career and the well-being of his family. In his desire to serve this community he learned language spoken by the majority of the residents in the city where he provides his services to better serve all of its inhabitants, without abandoning those who, like him, only speak English, their native language.
It is time that we reach some of the progress Dr. King dreamed of in his four decades of existence. We need leaders to represent us, not politicians at election time only. Lawrence needs help because we have dreams to complete, too.
