Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & Environment Minutes: Monthly Meeting April 21, 2021 via Zoom
Attending: separately recorded
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT SueEllen gave a land acknowledgement to the indigenous people who lived here before us.
WORKING GROUP REPORTSFriends of Bees is disseminating pollinator planting lists and listings of bee friendly plant sales and advocating for more natural landscape for the playing fields being proposed by BBN.
Refugee Support Group is preparing for a major fundraiser featuring Yo Yo Ma to raise funds for the housing, furnishings, and other tangible support they give to refugee families they work with.
Watertown Citizens for Black Lives was pleased that the Schools have hired a Director of Equity and Inclusion to help address many of the issues their equity in schools group has raised. Their work on police policy reform will be featured in the following presentation.
The Pigsgusset Initiative has been working with New Rep Theater and an all native Team on a dramatic presentation. A recently posted sticker stereotyping Native Americans found on public property has generated a quick response from the team and stands as an example of the kind of racism that exists in the community. They are working on a strategy to rename Columbus Delta, examine the town seal, and opportunities to identify locations to acknowledge Original Peoples.
Watertown Faces Climate Change continues to watch the commitment to net zero in the new high school, and has been showing up at public meetings advocating for more sustainable development at planning meetings, more comprehensive and environmentally sustainable trash collection, keeping the electric wires for the 71 and 73 buses, and calling for local experts on the Climate Action Plan Steering Committee and supporting Sunrise’s resolution to the Town Council.
PRESENTATION
After many requests and a long wait, a Town Council subcommittee will meet the following evening to discuss Watertown Policing. Four active groups presented their experience, positions, and asks.
Sheila Kirshman and Felicia Sullivan from the Leadership Circle for WFBL and chairs of Police Policy Reform Group presented statistical data they were able to obtain that represents disparities in outcomes of encounters with police. They stressed that these disparities reflect the dominant societal and institutional racism and can only be addressed with institutional responses. They are calling for more data sharing, more focus on equitable outcomes, update of use of Force policy, an Internal Investigation Process, Public Disclosures and Pro-active statements and efforts from the Police Chief.
Uplift Watertown came together in 2020 when local students organized around the radical idea of re-envisioning of police. They have an Educational Team providing anti-racism training, a Social Media Team posting data , local, and national news, and a Data Team to identify a no-weapons based approaches and look at budget items that could be better spent on social services. They are asking that the Town Council analyze police activities and identify preventative and alternative public services and fund these services.
Will Twombly has been serving on the Kingian Nonviolence Police Training Group which has been advocating for a long term training program that embraces the Kingian curriculum and techniques. An expansion of this training beyond the few who have taken it will help build trust between community members and police.
Louise Enoch has been spearheading an effort with Chuck Dickinson and Sue Ellen Hershman Tcherepnin for a Police Department Advisory Board with citizens’ involvement that would provide accountability and review of policies, procedures, and complaints. Despite months of discussion, the Police Department is not embracing this approach.
NEXT MONTHLY MEETING May 19, 7:00 pm
Respectfully submitted, Deborah Peterson