Page 6 - The Black Lives Matter Movement

consultant to the city, including the St. Louis Police Department,
and meets often with Joyce as well as police chiefs, police academy
candidates, and St. Louis City Hall leaders, among others. The guy
who once had only negative thoughts about police offi cers is now
infl uencing public safety policy at the highest levels. “I got to know
him and realized right away that when this
person calls, I need to answer the phone,”
“When we think says Jon Belmar, St. Louis County police
about what Eric chief. “He has no problem telling you when
Garner was doing the you’ve messed up, but he has the ability to
day that he was killed listen and work things out. He’s invested
after being choked on in this, and for the right reasons. I can’t tell
Staten Island—sell- you how valuable that is.” 65
One challenge Franks faces (although
ing loose cigarettes he does not let it get in his way) is hostil-
should never be ity on the part of activists in his native St.
something that lands Louis—people who still hate police just as
you in a cof n.” 67 he once did. He has been called a traitor
and a spy by those who have no respect
— Black Lives Matter activist
and leader Brittany Packnett for anyone who works with law enforce-
ment. “I get why people are skeptical,”
says Black Lives Matter’s DeRay Mckes-
son. But Mckesson also understands why Franks does what he
does, and he admires Franks for taking an active role in trying
to bring about improved police-community relationships. “He
doesn’t play a role that I would play,” says Mckesson. “But he
has clear reasons as to why he engages this way, and he has
integrity.” 66

Campaign Zero
Although Mckesson’s approach is different from that of Franks,
he is also involved in trying to change the way police interact with
black citizens. Together with fellow Black Lives Matter activists
Johnetta Elzie, Brittany Packnett, and Sam Sinyangwe, Mckes-
son launched an endeavor called Campaign Zero. It is a police
reform effort that calls for stronger guidelines that limit the use of
force by police offi cers. One of the group’s goals is to end a po-
lice practice known as “broken windows.” The approach is based
on the theory that by ridding a community of low-level crimes

56