2020.06.23 WS Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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23 WORKING GROUP POLICE-INVOLVED DEADLY FORCE ENCOUNTERS RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTION STEPS HEARING SUMMARIES On Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, the Working Group on Police-Involved Deadly Force Encounters, co-chaired by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and Commissioner of Public Safety John Harrington, hosted the fourth public hearing, which focused on community healing; mental health; prosecution; arbitration; resources for local jurisdictions and communities; and testimony from affected law enforcement families, families affected by police- involved deadly-force encounters, and the public in Brooklyn Park at the North Hennepin Community College Prevention. The working group convened at 9:00 a.m. with testimony from Priscilla Fairbanks, a mother who lost her only son in a police-involved deadly force encounter in 2019. She shared the heartbreaking loss and the confusion over why deadly force was required when he was already on the ground being held by a police dog. She made several recommen- dations to address officer training, recruitment, hiring, monitoring and firing protocols. The first panel focused on community healing, with testimony provided by Renee Gurneau with the Anishinaabe Knowledge Institute; Mark Ander- son (pre-recorded) and LeMoine LaPointe with the Barbara Schneider Foundation; Dr. Joi Lewis with Joi Unlimited; and Shaundelle Darris with Hersili- ency. Gurneau provided an overview of the historical trauma experienced by indigenous people and efforts to restore the path of life where the mind and heart work together through recovering their language, culture and spiritual foundation. Mark Anderson and LeMoine LaPointe provided an overview of efforts to indigenize the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) model through a four-phase community engagement process that involves the entire community in the process of four dialogue sessions focused on Discover, Dream, Design, and Deliver as a way to deeply address underlying community priorities and solutions. Dr. Lewis (pre-recorded) addressed the need to focus on and fund the infrastructure to build the capacity for community healing in the face of trauma, including police-involved deadly force encounters, through meditation, mindfulness, emotional liberation and conscious movement. Darris described her efforts to improve community healing by establishing Hersiliency, a program to address mental health and wellness for communities of color and provide cultural sensitivity trainings to dismantle racial inequities. Each of the speakers made specific recommendations to address community healing. The second panel focused on resources for local jurisdictions and communities, with presentations by Anthony Smith, Executive Director of Cities United; Booker Hodges, the President of the MN chapter of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE); and Chief William Blair Anderson, City of St. Cloud, MN. Smith shared the background behind the creation of Cities United to address the needs of African American boys and young men and reduce the violence that impacts them. He explained that former Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges worked with Cities United to develop a tool for mayors and cities to use to better respond to police-involved deadly force encounters and in- custody deaths. Smith shared the key lessons from their publication, “A Strategic Resource for Mayors on Police-Involved Shootings and In-Custody Deaths.” The NOBLE presentation focused on “The Law and Your Community,” a national one-hour course to educate high school students and their parents on citizenship, law literacy and law enforcement engage- ment. Hodges and Anderson also shared how New Jersey has created an adapted version for a state- wide curriculum that is being disseminated through