THE POLICE STRANGLEHOLD ON ED MALLET'S FIANCEE

Stewart echoes the sentiment expressed by Jesse Jackson, who said even he got nervous when he heard the footsteps of black teenagers behind him.

"I wish members of the African-American community could get just as upset [as they have over Mallet's death] when our young men kill each other," says Stewart. "Young black males are killing each other. We have funerals almost every weekend in our community. How often do we have them when they are killed by a cop?"

Perhaps the police will take some comfort in Stewart's perspective. Cops rightly view citizen review with alarm, and feel the average person doesn't know what the police face. More than one officer, for example, has asked me what they're supposed to use if they're forced to abandon the carotid-artery neck hold, which normally induces nothing more fatal than unconsciousness.

A lot of people refuse to go quietly. Then what? The next level of defense, pointed out a number of cops interviewed, involves batons, stun guns, revolvers--all much more dangerous.

Pastor Stewart's words, and the influence he will wield whatever the final makeup of the commission, suggest that street cops will not be scapegoated for the crack, gang warfare and poverty that grip the inner city. Neither can the commission whitewash the clear problem of profile stops of minorities.

But if Garrett's commission is going to have credibility, the chief must resolve the conflict between his good intentions and the fact that his administration is out of touch with what is going on in the street, with what is going on in front of the Curry home.

The bottom line is whether anything will change because of Mallet's death.
Charita's mother has noticed one thing that is different.
"Since you started coming down here," Connie Curry told me last week, "the pressure has stopped. It's almost like someone knew you were asking questions."

Gerald Richard, in the chief's office, was taken aback by the remarkable list of license plates attached to police cars that have haunted Connie Curry and her family.

Asked what he intended to do about it, Richard said, "I don't know where she got that information. I have to look into it. I don't have the facts."

He can get the facts by asking some questions of his own.