Bellevue Community Listening Sessions on Police Use of Force Policies - 10/13/20, 10/15/20, 10/17/20

Virtual Meeting Highlights 
Held on three different days, including one weekend day at varying times.  All lasting between 1 and 1 1/2 hours. Each meeting followed the same format so the common introductory remarks will be shared first and then the details of each meeting will follow.

Introduction to Discussions
The City of Bellevue is committed to reviewing and improving the police use of force policies currently in place.  Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson provided opening remarks welcoming all and stating that this was a safe place to share comments and provide input.  This is an opportunity for the community to share experiences and ideas for improvements.  The City is listening.
 
The meetings were facilitated by three people from the OIR (Office of Independent Review) group.  They specialise in police reform with a civil rights perspective with about 20 years experience.  One of the three was a previous law enforcement officer.  The OIR group has done previous work for King County.
 
The Bellevue City Council has made a four-part pledge as follows:

1. Review - police use of force policies
2. Engage - the community by including a diverse range of input, experiences an stories in the review
3. Report - the findings of the review to the community and seek feedback
4. Reform - police use of force policies

 
The OIR group took a few polls during the sessions - one at the beginning (whether you were a Bellevue resident, just worked in Bellevue, lived nearby, etc.). Another asking why they were at the meeting.  Another about how familiar or not they were with current police use of force policies.  From these polls an estimate of participation was made:
. About 40+ people at Oct 13 meeting
. About 35+ people at Oct 15 meeting
. About 15+ people at Oct 17 meeting
 
Discussion/Comments from Oct. 13 meeting

• Male discusses choke hold incident involving a woman caught on camera in Factoria Mall parking lot from Dec 2018 and felt it was excessive.
• Female comments that she was there and saw that incident first hand.  She said it was very disappointing.  She wanted to know what training police officers go through?  She asked this to the police department via email and was sent around and around to several departments before she got a less than satisfactory answer.  She feels that overall interaction with police department can be improved.
• Male commented that choke holds should not be allowed at all by Bellevue police.
• Male wanted to know about the Eight Can’t Wait policies and if Bellevue is adopting them - why or why not?  (The eight can’t wait policies are 1. Ban choke holds/strangleholds, 2. Require de-escalation, 3. Require warning before shooting, 4. Require exhausting all alternatives before shooting, 5. Duty to intervene, 6. Ban shooting at moving vehicles, 7. Require use of force continuum, and 8. Require comprehensive reporting.)
• Female recalls incident with mentally ill adult male where 911 was called and police responded.  Would be better if other skilled mental health person responded to these types of calls.  Police officer was towering over individual, with hand on holster, definitely intimidating and not necessary.
• Female would like to have data about police activities, stops, etc.
• Female who is a social worker feels she is in a better position to work with mentally ill people and de-escalate situations.  She works with police in different cities in the area.
• Male said that we should have good vetting when hiring police officers.
• Male said an advisory board could provide oversight.
• Female said we should not have School Resource officers (SRO).  She does not want police in schools.
• Male does not want officer asking students questions without parent present.  There needs to be an audit function around these officers - not just monitoring from complaints made.
• Female said we should not have SROs in schools.
• Female wanted to know what Bellevue’s view was on Bodycams/dashcams.
• Female said that police use of force rules should definitely be different for regular police vs SROs.  She also believed we should not have SROs at all.
• Male said that the Bellevue police budget was about $100 mill/year but it was hard to find details of the budget.  Where can she find this?  Also, does the City have equipment from the Department of Defense?
• Female said that the SRO officers should be as diverse as the student population is.  Also, how are SROs hired?  What is their history?  Do these officers have special training for working with students?

 
It was stated by the facilitators that they could see from the chat comments that some folks were disappointed that they could not learn more, have questions answered but the purpose of the meeting was just for the facilitators/City to listen and take feedback.
 
Discussion/Comments from Oct. 15 meeting

• Female brought up 2018 choke hold incident of woman at Factoria Mall.  She said a civilian oversight board would be good to avoid mistrust, choke holds should be banned.  Also, why was there no bodycam?
• Female was asking for outward facing data, especially broken down by racial groups.  Very hard to find any data currently.
• Female was asking how outreach for these sessions was done because she felt it was not sufficient.
  

Presenters stated the City did the outreach.  Also, these are not the only sessions.  They will be doing smaller sessions with specific stakeholders.

• Female wanted to know how much training was given on mediation and conflict resolution.  That partnerships with social services in training could be very beneficial in addition to working together ongoing.
• Female said there is evidence that changing policies does not necessarily change outcomes.  Need community response - team response to things - not just police responding.
• Female said we needed to include conversation on race equity.  It’s great that people are here talking but that we are putting the cart before the horse.
• Female said that more young people should be involved in the discussion.  Felt that accountability was not always affected by policy changes.  Question should be about how we respond appropriately.

Facilitators noted there are youth forums scheduled.

• Male said they needed to look at events leading up to incident and training around this.

Facilitators were asking for specifics on what community thought a police use of force should look like?  What words it should include.

• Female said she felt there was racial profiling in the City.
• Female said our policies should be compared with other cities.  We should have racially just policies.  What are best practices in other cities?  Also that the entire police manual should be under review not just this particular aspect.
• Chat room mentioned that LA has incentives for officers who use de-escalation techniques.
• Female said that police are not the best response for many calls.
• Female said that it was good we are having these discussions.  Bellevue should be a leader.
• Male said that neck restraints should be eliminated.  Police are always In a defensive posture with the idea that they may be injured.  This should be changed - officers should be friendly, not always anticipating a confrontation.  Armored vehicles should not be allowed in Bellevue.
• Chat room had questions on disciplinary action.
• Female said the community as a whole should have goals for racial equity.
• Female wanted to know Bellevue’s philosophy on Bodycams.  They might help with accountability and transparency.  Also could build trust/confidence in community.
• Female said tracking what led up to use of force is important - not just the incident itself.
• Female said use of force in the narrow sense you are reviewing may not be enough.  It’s more the power police have over the individual and implicit bias.  People need equitable treatment.

Facilitators said the concerns of the Bellevue community are bigger than the use of force and that these were conversations for another day.

• Male said police use a lot of foul language which escalates the situation.  Also that there should be alternate programs in Bellevue for responding to mental health and drug calls.
• Female wanted to know if we had chaplains/ministers in place to respond to any calls.  Do they work with our police department?
• Female said we need to change the make up of first responders - they should be a team of people with varying expertise, not just police.
• Male said that officer is automatically on the defense and it is up to the citizen to calm the situation rather than the other way around.  De-escalation is about brining the calm.

 
Discussion/Comments from Oct 17 meeting

• Female said that we should ban use of chemical agents.
• Female felt format made it difficult to share.  Just saying it is a safe space does not make it so.  Also The Right to Breathe group is doing a lot of good work and should be supported and a part of this.  How do we hold police accountable?
• Male said he sent close to a dozen examples to Council on why people need to feel free of violence but has heard little back.  He has had altercations with police that were unwarranted.
• Female said there should be training to de-escalate.  Police seem to think people don’t follow the rules so they are always expecting the worst.  Why is this?  How do we involve the police in this process?

Facilitators said they will be having sessions with the police.  That policies will dictate future training as well as accountability.

• Female said that choke holds and sleeper holds if they don’t kill you can cause strokes, brain injuries - some times instantly, sometimes weeks or months later.  They should be banned. 
• Chat was saying they would like more use of force data.
• Chat was saying that they would like to see duty to intervene - peer intervention should be encouraged.
• Chat was asking if Use of Force policy being looked at through an equity lens?
• Male said that the recommendations made to King County (in the 2 reviews they did for the sheriff’s office Feb 2020 and Sep 2020) should be adopted in Bellevue at a minimum.
• Female said this was a frustrating session.  Felt this was not a way to hear black and brown experiences from our community.  It’s not just because of the format but there is also a lack of trust.  Should be more transparency in the invite.  Break out groups are more intimate and would be better.  Facilitation skillset for small groups to draw them out.
• Female said that social workers could be part of the solution - embedded in the police department.
• Male said the 3 mins citizens are given to provide comment at city council meetings is insufficient.

The facilitators noted that there was a lot of silence and more conversation in the chat.  They would be sure to take back all the comments in the chat.
 
At the end of all three meetings the facilitators told all that they could provide further comments up until Oct 30 to council-pledge@bellevuewa.gov and engaging Bellevue website.

Observer's Summary
Participants seemed frustrated by the narrow scope of the conversation. It was clear from the three sessions that those who attended were expecting more of a dialog or Q&A rather than providing to the facilitators ideas/language for a better police use of force policy. Confusion could have been avoided through clearer communication about the goals, scope, and structure of the event. People in all three sessions felt that others should be represented and have input, so it would have helped to have an explanation up front that these sessions were just a piece of the City's analysis and there was a plan for further outreach to stakeholders. 

Links to Video
The October 13, 2020 session can be viewed here, the October 15 session here, and the October 17 session here.