Big racial justice win at DSM City Council
We scored a big win!
Last night, the Des Moines City Council unanimously approved the hiring of 21st Century Policing to conduct an independent third-party review of the Des Moines Police Department -- something our Racial Justice Team has been pushing for over a year.
This approval didn't magically come out of thin air, it's a huge victory that hard work and dedication.
A core group of CCI Racial Justice members has kept busy working on this. We've had meetings as a team almost weekly, with individual city council members, showed up to a year's worth of city council meetings. The team has kept this issue hot in the public debate by exposing violent videos and reports of misconduct, including officers being promoted despite a history of racially biased actions.
We also want to thank all of you who emailed or called your council members to weigh in on this issue. It has an impact.
An independent third-party investigation is what we wanted and is a step in the right direction. We like the choice of 21CP's proposal because it:
includes looking deep into the culture of the DMPD,
will involve the community in their review process, and
will provide a public report and a roadmap detailing how the DMPD must improve.
We believe that this process will expose current problems within the department. Our hope is that this report and roadmap is a start to real police reform in this city, because we do not exaggerate when we say people of color fear police and police stops.
This was a major step and win for CCI, and our work continues...
Now CCI members aren't ones to just sit by and let things happen, are we?
We have not and will not allow the city to be all talk and no action. We look forward to bringing much-needed voices to the table while 21CP works with the community. We will be watching closely to ensure the community is informed and updated on the process. We're committed to monitoring and working with the city to make sure the DMPD is following through on relevant recommendations.
And, while all that is going on, we've got members working
for the implementation of a citizens review board to oversee, in some part, the DMPD. We're continuing the push to address data collection and transparency issues and other changes to be made in accordance outlined in the 23 recommendations made by Public Works LLC this past May.
Our tagline in action: Iowa CCI. We talk. We act. We get it done.
To keep the momentum on this critical organizing going strong:
Click here to join as an Iowa CCI member today, renew your membership, or support with an extra gift
Contact me at sharon@iowacci.org if you'd like to be a part of this hardworking team.