Legislative District 44

Ensuring public safety needs to start by addressing and working to counter the core causes of criminal activity within communities. When intervention is needed, we need to be sure that we are applying the right tool for the job. Law enforcement is often who is first called, regardless of whether the complaint is criminal in nature and that is not an ideal solution.

I’m not sure whether measuring rates of complaints is the best way to identify progress because by nature these calls are incredibly subjective.

I think that we need to shift to ensuring the right resources are being deployed when needed – someone in a mental health crisis faced with a shouting, armed stranger can take a turn for the worse far too quicky, but building relationships between officers and communities can help – true community policing can build trust, understanding and connectivity in a way that other models don’t – for example, knowing that a community member cannot respond to commands because they are Deaf or hard of hearing can be the difference between life and death for our neighbors. There also needs to be considerably more work to ensure that those who are tasked with serving our communities reflect those who live and work within them.

I believe strongly that rehabilitation is always more successful than punishment. I also believe that while many become law enforcement officers because they want to help people, that does not make them immune to the dangers of implicit bias, and other inequitable beliefs and actions. It’s going to take time and work to change the culture but one way to do that is to change who holds the power.