San Diegans brainstormed potential changes in policing during the KPBS and National Conflict Resolution Center Community Conversation held virtually on July 13, 2020. The panel discussion featured San Diego City Councilmember Monica Montgomery, Pillars of the Community President Khalid Alexander and San Diego Police Officers Association President Jack Schaeffer, and was moderated by KPBS Investigative Reporter Claire Trageser.
Following the panel discussion, more than 100 participants convened for a 45-minute dialogue that broke people into small groups to discuss police reform solutions. Here are some of the themes that surfaced.
– Implementing a system in which trained social service professionals respond to calls involving mental illness and homelessness instead of armed officers.
– Defunding the police to invest in after school programs, teachers, and organizations that offer inspiring activities, thereby lessening the need for police.
– Police training that includes working with grassroots organizations in the communities they work in.
– The creation of a police culture in which law enforcement officers see themselves as part of the communities they serve.
– The implementation of anti-racism education and training to dismantle it within the department.
– An end to qualified immunity.
– The reduction of weapons carried by police.
– More conversations between police and the community; “More connection before correction”.
– Police divisions in each neighborhood inviting community groups and people to continue the discussion.
