Community Committee on Policing
I’ve been asked whether a citizen oversight committee should be in place in Laramie and for me, the answer is, generally, yes. I absolutely want to explore the idea further.
Like many important issues, my perspective is more nuanced though.
In trying to understand what Laramie’s procedure for reviewing use-of-force cases is, I’ve learned that all use of force cases should be documented and reviewed, and that they get passed up a chain of command internally, until ultimately getting a final review by one individual - the police chief. From my perspective, this presents an issue of checks and balances:
It’s difficult to appear unbiased, trustworthy, and reliable when the full process stays within the police system.
There is too much weight on the shoulders of one individual to make the hard decisions.
There are a variety of ways an oversight committee might look, but one comprised of professionals with insight into policing and the laws around policing, and one that includes a mental health professional could help provide those checks and balances. In an ideal world, this group would provide a second set of eyes in reviewing use-of-force cases and quickly respond with feedback. Simple, right? Sort of…
There are also hurdles that need to be considered:
The committee would need to be trained, which costs money. I’d like to think there might be grant dollars available, but I’m uncertain of that.
If this committee is a volunteer committee, their time is limited.
If not implemented well, I worry trust could be eroded, rather than strengthened.
I like to believe that, if done thoughtfully, an oversight committee has the potential to help build community relationships and trust. I was really disappointed that the city council opted to end exploration of the idea. If the idea surfaces again, I would be in favor of resuming discussions to see if there is a model that would work for Laramie.
Just as Important: Mental Health & Additional Trainings
The discussion around additional police training for mental health and ensuring our officers are receiving the mental healthcare they need, is just as important to me as the oversight board. Giving officers the tools needed to understand the people they interact with is incredibly important.
According to the data:
64 % of jail inmates and 54 % of state prisoners nationally report mental health concerns
I’d love to see Adverse Childhood Experiences trainings, continued Crisis Intervention Team trainings and use of the Vitals app - which allows users to enter their mental health and other medical information giving first responders insight into their situation. The app is being used successfully elsewhere. I’d also like to see continued Crisis Intervention Team trainings.
To sum things up – police officers play an important role in our community but we should continue to look at tools and have the conversations - even when they are tough ones - that will lead to continued improvement of the department.