Convening Key Leaders to Tackle Policing
It was just a few hours after the death of Congressman John Lewis that I, along with city leaders, activists, dozens of ANC commissioners, and other residents gathered online to tackle the issue of policing in our city.
It was the right conversation at the right time, in the midst of a national reckoning on racial justice and policing, and in the shadow of the death of Congressman Lewis, who had often taught us that when we see something that is not right, not fair, not just, we must say something and do something. Now is clearly such a time. (Read the articles in WTOP, Washington Informer, and Capitol Hill Corner.)
Our Town Hall on “Reimagining Policing in DC” was the outgrowth of a series of weekly online meetings of ANC Commissioners I first convened in March to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on our communities. As Vice Chair of ANC 6B, I knew it was important for Commissioners around the District to share on-the-ground information and ideas with each other and city officials.
With the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the hands of police and the nationwide protests that it sparked, we knew we had to confront the issue as elected leaders of our community. I worked with a team of ANC Commissioners to organize and host the public forum this past weekend.
I thank Kevin Donahue, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice; Deputy Police Chief Robert Contee; At-Large Councilmember Robert White; Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen; Marcus Dent, a member of DC Guardian Angels; and Douglass Sloan, vice president of the NAACP--DC Branch for accepting our invitation to this critical conversation.
Here are a few of the takeaways for me, as an ANC Commissioner, candidate for the DC Council At-Large seat, a person of color, and a 25-year resident of this city:
It’s about trust. The community must trust those who are charged with protecting them and, right now, too many residents don’t trust the police. DC’s Cadet program has shown promise in recruiting young DC residents who have a much stronger connection to the community they serve. Deputy Chief Robert Contee shared with us that officers who come through the cadet program stay with the force longer than others on average. I’m disappointed that the Council just voted against increasing funding for that program, which is key in establishing and strengthening that trust. We should also be looking to programs elsewhere, such as the highly successful PAL program in Boston, which engages cops and kids in recreational and other programming that builds trust and improves community policing.
Police are asked to do too much. Deputy Mayor Donohue told us that calls to 9-1-1 are sorted into three categories only: fire, medical, and “everything else.” Everything else, from a fatal shooting to a kid who refuses to go to school, gets a police response. We are asking too much of our police and there are people more suited to handle some of those calls – substance abuse and mental health counselors, homelessness specialists, school officials, and others. We need a system that funnels those calls to the people best equipped to help, and allows police to focus on what they’ve been trained for. Reviewing and evaluating who responds to calls (and then the funding that goes with it) is a common sense approach.
We are not as far apart as we think. This was the first time that these key leaders had met to publicly discuss this issue, and I was glad to hear that all of them were supportive of taking an honest look at what officers are asked to do. There will be differences on the details, of course, but there is much we can do together when we sit down for productive conversations like the one we held on Saturday.
Now is the moment. As Marcus Dent, from our panel, said: “We have never had a moment like this when it comes to racial equality.” Douglass Sloan called this a “moment of sea change in America.” We cannot let up now.
The ANC Commissioners and I met after the Town Hall to debrief and discuss next steps. We established several working committees to move ahead on key topics and will produce specific action items to share with each other, the Council, and the Mayor.
The conversation and the work are far from over! I pledge to continue bringing thought leaders and Commissioners together to find smart solutions, now and when I am elected to the DC Council.