News, White House Report

Police Culture: The Blue Elephant in the Room

April Ryan
June 30, 2020

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Protests continue across the country as federal lawmakers are still grappling with the next steps to move forward on police reform.

AURN White House Correspondent April Ryan speaks with Rick Hite, former chief of Indianapolis Metro Police Department and retired Lieutenant Colonel of the Baltimore Police Department, who insists there is one subject that has been absent from the debate: the culture of police departments.

Click ▶️ to listen to AURN Washington Bureau Chief April Ryan’s White House Report:

Shanee Isabell calls out the name of her second cousin Charleena Lyles, Thursday, June 18, 2020, during a vigil for Lyles on the third anniversary of her death, in Seattle. Lyles was shot and killed by Seattle police. Also in attendance at the vigil were family members of nearly two dozen people killed by police across the country who traveled to Seattle to urge police reform, an issue renewed by protests against the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

People react during a protest Wednesday, June 3, 2020, in Atlanta, over the death of George Floyd who died while in police custody in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)

A demonstrator raises their fist as others gather to protest the death of George Floyd, Saturday, May 30, 2020, near the White House in Washington. Floyd died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

April Ryan has a unique vantage point as the only Black female reporter covering urban issues from the White House, a position she has held with AURN since the Clinton era. Her position as a White House Correspondent has afforded her heightened insight into the racial sensitivities, issues, and attendant political struggles of our nation. April has written three books; The Presidency in Black & White: My Close-Up View of Three Presidents and Race in America, At Mama's Knee: Mothers and Race in Black and White, and Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House. Twitter: @aprildryan