dan benavidez
[image linked – Matthew Jonas]
intro’d to Dan via Mike via Peter (via Sandy)
parts of Mike‘s interview w Scott Converse:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh-wqi7WjH4]
12 min – q: on bias – how to make sure police force have solid awareness on own bias
we all come w deficiencies/weaknesses.. people tend to shut down when told have deficiencies/weaknesses
13 min – (dan benavidez) came at if from gifts you have to offer.. besides latino community we have folks struggling w addiction, mental health, poverty.. potentially marginalized by our community.. and
i would rather have our staff working w those folks from a perspective of seeing them as having gifts and not necessarily seeing them as a problem to be solved
14 min – a lot of the implicit bias training comes across as a model as there are people in the room are a problem to be solved.. and they look at them thru the lens that there is something going on inside of you that you have to fix
dan came at it from a perspective of.. you have all of these great talents/gifts.. so what that helped us do was model that.. and we began to look at people differently
15 mi – we’re not looking at people as problem to be solved or thru their deficiencies.. we’re looking at them as people who have gifts to offer the rest of us
and our goal in public safety.. is to try to figure out how to get them on that path so that they can offer those gifts to the rest of us
try this man – short bp – w 2 convers as infra
i know that doesn’t sound like a traditional safety role.. but we’ve been coming at this from the criminal justice criminalizing perspective for way too many years.. the war on drugs.. the war on a lot of social issues.. the criminalization of homelessness/addiction/mental health..
home less ness.. addiction.. mental health.. there’s a nother way.. for all of us
you ask any sheriff in this state/country.. and they will tell you that they are the biggest mental health ward in their county.. about 80% of the folks they have housed in their prisons/jails struggle w either addiction and/or mental health…
16 min – we’re coming at it from an entirely diff perspective.. rather than arresting.. we refer to angel initiative.. started in jan 2017 – basically we opened our doors to anybody who is struggling w an addiction we will find them treatment.. so far 80 people have come in.. connect them w angels.. serve as taxi for them.. and employers that employee them.. then some people getting community to embrace addiction.. as a disease
via ab – housing first: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_First
18 min – q: procedural justice
19 min – i would call it restorative justice.. responsibility/respect/reintegration.. bev title started it over 20 yrs ago.. over the yrs we’ve referred over 6000 people that we could have arrested .. our criminal justice recidivism rate is around 60-65%.. for that 6000 people.. the recidivism rate has been less than 10%.. we give them that opp to choose accountability
ugh.. accountability ness
23 min – q: take it from the other side.. on police force being accountable – how do you foster that
much of what a police officer does is on the run.. about 90% of time operating on their own.. ensure via hiring.. if you have an ounce of violence in background.. we don’t hire.. we feel we’ve developed a culture of accountability.. ie: i don’t demand or hold or legislate or try to purchase w rewards.. accountability.. we expect our people to choose accountability..
28 min – q: tech like metrics.. what objective metrics to measure accountability
30 min – q: tech like body cameras
31 min – not yet.. the focus on police from ie: ferguson et al.. has been good.. but a lot of people jumped on thinking body cameras would increase transparency/relationships.. what we’ve seen.. outcomes for those who use them.. a lot of policy/tech issues.. we’re going to go to them.. but want to ensure all things that need to be worked out have been resolved.. because it’s expensive.. $40 000 a year.. and we just haven’t had the (trust/skill) issues here.. probably next 6-12 months
33 min – q: police unions
34 min – on having open meetings.. but price for your voice is that you have to have an agenda that’s bigger than your self interest.. has to be the good of the whole
36 min – q: homeless issues – gotten worse over years
he’s right in terms of worse part – last 10-12 yrs.. i’m talking about chronically homeless.. about 350 now.. summertime number.. police and fire that has sapped a lot of our resources about 50% in summer.. that’s the reactive.. people calling in .. someone sleeping in doorway..intoxicated.. afraid.. et al
38 min – this is not an easy issue.. and longmont is not unique.. it’s a societal problem.. we’re a community of 100 000 and the larger your community gets more likely to take on similar characteristics.. what’s also going on w the homeless is addiction and mental health..
39 min – so not only back to angel initiative.. but recently longmont safety received 2 fairly large grants to deal w folks struggling w addiction beyond the angel initiative w addiction.. and their mental health.. we’re going to be able to hire a number of people who will proactively work w people struggling w mental health and addiction.. we’re not just going to react.. as we’ve done in the past.. out of those 80 people i mentioned.. 1/2 are struggling w homeless ness
this is you ab
40 min – i have to support the rhetoric we use around folks.. we’re trying to get out of the business of labeling.. those labels.. you’re defining them w a problem to be solved.. that’s why we did angel initiative.. and why we applied for these grants.. and by the way .. these could be long ongoing grants..
just label daily cure ios city man
41 min – the money that supplies these grants comes from the state tax on marijuana
42 min – we’ve been in the business of trying to solve problems.. and one of the metrics we use.. is where we have a problem place .. our effectiveness is gaged by the lack of (the communities) need for us.. our goal is to assure we’re not as needed in the future..
43 min – we want to provide a service where they don’t have to come constantly in contact w police.. we have people who have had 400-500 contacts police/fire.. 100s of hospital visits.. we could move up stream and be more proactive.. so people can find a way of living their lives where they don’t rely on us
q: tax funds going to public safety..
62% voted for that.. 1 penny on every $25.. will raise 6 mn more.. used to hire police.. people who can work more w animal control.. w traffic.. a couple fire fighters
48 min – q: what does police dept look like
right now.. we have 100 000 people 36 000 households .. usually we have 9-10 officer on the street (takes 5.1 officers to fill a 24/7 position).. 6 fire stations.. 23 fighters on duty 24/7.. save dollars by getting their fast and suppressing fires.. we don’t have many .. also skilled w hazardous chemicals.. tech difficulties.. and emts.. that effects everyone’s insurance rates
52 min – capacity to revive those w heart attacks is 48%.. national is 9-11%
53 min – q: misconduct in police dept
2016 – we had 6.. 2017 we had 9 – community committee reviews these.. hs kids part of hiring panels
58 min – 100 000 people is a tremendous amount of social capital – it’s the gifts/talents/resources/expertise/skills of people w/in this community we happen to believe it’s an untapped resource
59 min – so as we work w these social/health issues.. we believe our community can act as a resource as well to help us w that.. in the angel initiative we’ve done a lot of that already.. what i didn’t mention before.. we’ve leveraged over 1 mn dollars in free treatment.. we have angels from community that support the services (taxi, employ).. we are really trying to tap into the social capital
hope you’re legit there.. sincere legit.. because what we need most is the energy of 7bn alive people.. in the city.. as the day..
myself and dan benavedes have been walking neighborhoods for about 4 yrs.. and every person we talk to we invite to be part of the solution.. we now have police/firefighters walking and inviting.. so this is not traditionally a role for public safety.. ie: what they can offer.. to become more engaged..
1:00 so we’ve put a process in place where we’re going to be asking people in our community to step up and be part of making this community what it can be
yeah.. you’ll get some.. but that’s not a sustainable/thrivable way to tap into social capital..
1:01 – new defn of greatness: by the content of our goodness..
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dan and mike – from 2016
Our Belonging Revolution is the ultimate do-it-yourself movement.
not quite.. not ultimate.. this would be ultimate.. cure ios city
The vast majority of the people we have contacted on our neighborhood walks want to become more engaged and are willing to jump on the commitment and accountability bandwagon that serves the good of the whole.
dang.. not those.. wish we could talk
We have begun to experience a certain alchemy associated with this sense of belonging that people so urgently want to feel
All of us together can attend to the gifts and capacity of all others and act to bring the gifts of those on the margin and elsewhere to our community.
to get there to the max.. begs tech as it could be..
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article from 2013
Dan Benevidez, a former city councilman, faced racism when he moved to Longmont. He later helped bridge racial tensions in the city. writes book – for all the wrong reasons
http://www.timescall.com/ci_22913220/longmont-dan-benavidez-writes-story-racism-personal-growth
A catalyzing moment for both Benavidez and the city of Longmont came in August 1980. A rookie police officer shot and killed two unarmed young Latino men on Main Street after a traffic stop gone bad.
Racial tensions in the city were already running high, and the shooting threatened to trigger racial riots and further violence. Civic leaders, including Ed Lehman, then publisher of the Longmont Times-Call, turned to him as perhaps the one person in the community who could prevent the situation from erupting into chaos.
Benavidez succeeded — most notably by leading a peaceful march on city hall — and the episode set him on his path of activism.
Despite the flagrant racism that greeted Benavidez, he has come to love the city. He is quick to note white members of the community who encouraged him or made the community more inclusive. He singles out Mike Butler, Longmont’s public safety chief, for his efforts to connect with minorities in Longmont.
“I admire him greatly,” Benavidez said. “He’s doing it for the right reasons.”
Benavidez, too, is now doing it for the right reasons, he said.
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find/follow Dan:
ecocycle vp: http://www.ecocycle.org/aboutus/board
his book – for all the wrong reasons: https://www.amazon.com/All-Wrong-Reasons-Dan-Benavidez/dp/0982270666
on hold – thanks library
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be you. 