--- ---  # C.T. Vivian: Police Can't Cure Our Issues by [C.T. Vivian](https://time.com/author/c-t-vivian/) ## C.T. Vivian Apr 30, 2015 5:20 PM UTC  A boy talks to a police officer near North Ave and Pennsylvania Ave in Baltimore on April 28, 2015 A boy talks to a police officer near North Ave and Pennsylvania Ave in Baltimore on April 28, 2015Eric Thayer—Reuters by [C.T. Vivian](https://time.com/author/c-t-vivian/) ## C.T. Vivian Apr 30, 2015 5:20 PM UTC When I see what’s going on in Baltimore, I can’t help but think about times past. In the 1960s, we had to learn certain things, like non-violence. We wanted people to see the problems, feel the problems and know that they were real. We prepared for years to deal with the problems. And then we acted on them, and we did it with a method, a means, a process. Today, there’s no force that is dealing with the problem in most communities. The young people aren’t the problem. The community created the problem by letting things go. The young are not heard until they cry out like this, until they hit the street, until they force the city to hear itself. Nothing is going to really change until the community comes together and works together. We’ve got enough resources. We’ve got enough education. We’ve got enough ability to organize. We have agencies in government, but they too seldom have the budget. The city will pay for more police, but it won’t pay for more of the people who understand the issues. We need more social workers and fewer policemen, if we’re going to spend our money properly. Policemen or troops can’t cure our issues. It has to be done down the line, deeper into the community than policemen can go. Policemen are only service people. The people who are receiving government salaries think that when they do the work downtown, in the office, that that’s supposed to be it. That can never be it. They need to know what the community is thinking, what it is suffering from. We need to have workshops for the leadership so that they understand not only the problem but also a cure for the problem. We did that 50 years ago. We actually taught the leadership. We went into the churches and taught the ministers and their top people. And they in turn moved on that together to make a difference. Black people have suffered for years and years. Poor white people have suffered for years. We all have to find a way end it, to solve it. ### Baltimore Protests, Then and Now  A man is carried away by police during riots in Baltimore, 1968. Afro American Newspaper/Gado/Getty Images  Baltimore Police officers arrest a man following the funeral of Freddie Gray near Mowdamin Mall in Baltimore on April 27, 2015. Drew Angerer—Getty Images  Students demonstrate during a Black Power event at Morgan State University in Baltimore on April 6, 1968. Afro American Newspaper/Gado/Getty Images  Protestors participate in a vigil for Freddie Gray down the street from the Baltimore Police Department's Western District police station in Baltimore on April 21, 2015. Drew Angerer—Getty Images  National Guardsmen seal off a business-residential section of Baltimore and prepare to use tear gas against looters on April 8, 1968. Baltimore News-American/AP  Baltimore Police form a perimeter around a CVS pharmacy that was looted and burned in Baltimore on April 27, 2015. Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  Smoke billows from a liquor store which was looted during the third day of violence, which saw over 400 fires, in Baltimore on April 8, 1968. Baltimore News-American/AP  Fire fighters respond to a fire at a CVS pharmacy in Baltimore on April 27, 2015. Sait Serkan Gurbuz—Reuters  Baltimore City police pin down a curfew breaker in Baltimore on April 9, 1968. AP  Law enforcement officers detain a demonstrator on Gilmore Avenue near Baltimore Police Department Western District during a protest against the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore on April 25, 2015. Sait Serkan Gurbuz—Reuters C.T. Vivian: Police Can’t Cure Our Issues ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3840959/c-t-vivian-police-cant-cure-our-issues/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3840959/c-t-vivian-police-cant-cure-our-issues/"},"headline":"C.T. Vivian: Police Can't Cure Our Issues","datePublished":"2015-04-30T17:20:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:04:17.453Z","description":"When I see what’s going on in Baltimore, I can’t help but think about times past. 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