HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-28-20 Public Comment - C. Whisman-Blair - comments on policing policy reviewFrom:Caroline Whisman-Blair
To:Agenda; Chris Mehl; Michael Wallner; Steve Crawford; Rodort Martin
Subject:Comments on 7/27 City Commission Meeting
Date:Monday, July 27, 2020 9:30:22 PM
We appreciate the opportunity to voice our questions and concerns and acknowledge there are good intentions here and that much more
would be required to address racism in our policies, city council, law enforcement and community. Robert and I are white community
members and feel strongly in our responsibility to bring healing and justice to the ongoing racist policies and ideals in not only our
country but our community and understand that it should not fall on the shoulders of the BIPOC community to bring healing and
restoration.
We do not support over 30% of the city budget to go to law enforcement. We can move this funding to support crisis intervention, instead
of relying on grants, and you can better fund social services and public safety through social services that do not involve armed officers
responding to the scene. As an LCSW who is trained to respond to mental health crisis I have many first hand experiences of how law
enforcement are ill equipped to respond to crisis and often exasperate the situation. We need more funding in areas supporting the mental
health of our community members - not in policing and law enforcement. Especially in a relatively safe community where many people
do not lock their doors and there is little violent crime to warrant such a large allocation to armed law enforcement officers. I have also
seen and experienced the great need for armed law enforcement officers to show up and also believe in a well trained law enforcement
staff - however over 30% of our city budget shouldn't be required to achieve such a standard.
Stop using the word minorities and use BIPOC (black, indigenous and people of color).
From here on out - how will you include BIPOC voices at your table? The table being the City Commission and City Police table. It is
concerning that none were consulted.
We recommend as you are reviewing vendors for any anti-racist training that you reach out to Montana Racial Equity Project. How will
the public know you are doing these, which trainings and the results of these trainings?
What, if any, standardized instruments do you use in your hiring practices/background check to identify racist ideals in your law
enforcement candidates?
How do you hold law enforcement and city staff accountable for racist comments and actions? Not only while on duty but off as well
(social media)?
How do you identify racism and racist ideals in your current law enforcement officers and city council and city staff? How do you
identify these in yourselves?
How is the Bozeman City Council and Bozeman City Police Department advocating for policy change in policies that are inherently
racist like policies that require arrest and drug charges and mandatory sentencing which are based in the racist war on drugs? These are
active in our State and enforce racism through systemic oppression.
How do you educate your staff on anti-racism and how it racism impacts their role in our community? On an ongoing basis? What
specific trainings? How do you educate yourselves on anti-racism?
How do you include BIPOC members of our community community outreach? So that it is not only community outreach provided to
white high socio-economic members of our community.
How many hours do Bozeman officers receive on de-escalation techniques vs use of their firearm?
How often are uses of force currently used? Did you look to see if there was a disproportionate use of force on BIPOC community
members?
How is the City of Bozeman creating a city that welcomes BIPOC?
Who are the peer agencies you compared yourselves with? Do these agencies represent anti-racist ideals and policies? In line with what is
happening in our nation - do national standards represent anti-racism and do we want to align our community with the current national
standards? Currently, it does not appear that way in national statistics so we might want to learn from that failure and improve in our
community.
Thank you and we sincerely appreciate the ongoing conversation and improvement. We were encouraged to hear that this is just the
beginning.
Caroline Whisman-Blair, LCSW and Robert Martin
406 Greenway Ave Bozeman, MT 59718