By Fred Garcia
The meeting between the Loveland Police Department and Loveland’s City Council was held on the evening of June 30. I was able to watch the televised meeting and had these thoughts. First, the gathering was a friendly meeting between council members and police. It is evident that the police are doing many things right and need to be commended. It is also acknowledged that policing is a difficult and demanding job. I was, however, disappointed that council members were not asking the hard questions.
A question from a citizen via email asked if the force had people of color on its ranks, and how many were in leadership positions. The response was yes, there are some persons of color and a few are supervisors. The council could have asked for a percentage, or a raw number. Council members had no follow-up. The reason this is an important issue is that kids, especially young people of color, need to see people who look like them in positions of high responsibility. It’s not enough to see an athlete or actor of national prominence. Kids need local examples of what is possible for themselves. This need goes beyond the police department to all city departments, boards, and commissions.
When the officer in charge of the school resource officers gave statistics about students contacted by police, it was revealed that 27% of those students were of Hispanic background and 24% were mixed race. That means 51% of police contacts were what we used to call “minorities.” This is well above the percentage of students-of-color in the school district. Why is this occurring? How are students identified to receive a police intervention? If the schools are referring these students to resource officers, what is going on in the schools that causes this unbalance? Why were the council members not following up to ask these important questions?
In the age of George Floyd, Rayshard Brooks and Elijah McClain, all killed by police officers, there are many Loveland residents who are distrusting of police. The listening conference sponsored by Stories Without Borders and Project 8:46 in Loveland last week had many speakers who told of their experience of racism here in Loveland. I understand 90-plus people were on the Zoom conference call.
It is therefore important that we have honest, frank discussions. And that means asking the hard questions.
Last Tuesday was a good start, but the conversation needs to continue. Other questions need to be addressed including Police Citizen Advisory Board membership. Are there at least two persons of color on the board? If not, is Chief Ticer willing to commit to find a way to include these voices on the board? Is the City Council and police department willing to convene a series of conversations with people of color? And, will all agree that it is necessary to do a deep dive into the hard questions? I certainly hope so
Fred Garcia is a Loveland resident.
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Fred Garcia: What are Loveland police doing to reach out to communities of color? - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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