I’ve been trying to decide what, if anything I wanted to write about a change that is occurring for me. If you aren’t already aware, I have been appointed to the Citizen Police Review Board (CPRB). Last week, the final hurdle to that process was completed when the Pittsburgh City Council voted unanimously for my appointment, and next week I will be sworn in. I am the first openly gay person to sit on the CPRB. In some regards, this is a continuation of what I have already been doing, and in another regard, it is a real shift for me. I am moving from being a public commentator, to a public servant who will use his skills of evaluation, observation and thought in the interest of the public.
I thought I’d use this blog post to do two things. First, I wanted to share with my readers, what I shared at my public interview for this appointment. I want to articulate why I’m interested in serving in this capacity. Second, I want to consider how this might influence my overall blogging. The CPRB is controversial, maybe by the nature of it, and I am no stranger to controversy, although my hope is that I bring to the table a willingness to see all sides and work diligently to give voice to those who have felt as if they have not been treated properly.
The CPRB was born into existence after the Gammage case, and came into being by referendum vote. The board is completely independent from both the city government and the police department. It is in one way an oversight board, but it is not above the police force. It is an outside group of citizens who hear complaints, review the facts and act accordingly. I think it would be fair to say, based on my interview at City Council, that everyone has her/his ideas about what the CPRB should be accomplishing. This may include the Mayor’s office, the City Council, the Police Department, and the CPRB itself, and that adds perhaps another level of controversy. But the CPRB has a clear mission and directive from the people as to what it must accomplish, and I think that is the rudder by which the Board will navigate all that comes up.
It isn’t too hard to make a list of situations where the general public can question the efforts of the police. Within the LGBT community, several gay bushings, and all of the controversy that arose surrounding a rally for queer safety tops that list. But there are many within minority communities across Pittsburgh who have their stories to tell. There is potentially no shortage of work for this Board to do. But I think the real value of the board is to be a body of individuals who look at and evaluate all of the pieces not available to the general public, and then share with the community a thorough perspective. If some believe that there is a tension between the police and the Board, I would posit that the real tension to be overcome, is that the community at large must come to a point of trusting that this board of citizens are acting in their best interest and relaying back to the people such that the people can trust the system.
I was very engaged in the two gay bushings as well as the rally-turned-police-event over the past few years, and over and over, I heard people say that they can’t trust the police; they cant trust ther elected officials; and they can’t trust the CPRB. This bothered the heck out of me. I am making no value judgement on these claims. That people experience that they can’t trust makes it pretty real for them, even if the facts show that they can trust, and this lack of trust is a major problem to me. As gay, lesbian, bi, trans, and queer people are more visibly out, I believe we can see in some places a rise in violence against members of this community. The status quo is for us to be invisible, and when we break the status quo, tension can be created. In these cases, the people we need to rely on most, are our public safety officials, like the police. We need, and we deserve the police to always act with complete professionalism, and treat all individuals with great respect and fairness. It isn’t only members of the LGBTQcommunity who deserve this, but all individuals. Period.
In these episodes over the past few years, I watched actions where I saw individuals intentionally target and goad the police, and actions where some police seemed to act based in their own ideas rather than by the letter of the law. I also saw individuals on all sides of the situations, including police officers, who honestly and completely wanted to do the right thing and have the utmost respect for all involved. In other words, from my perspective, things are rarely a simple matter of one side is the bad side and the other is the victim.
Burned in my memory is a very moving scene where I watched a young queer person relay their experience of being treated horribly by some police offers in another situation. The wounds of their encounter was still extremely evocative for that person, despite the time. I could feel their pain and the humiliation they had encountered. Yet, here they were face to face with a different group of officers who were, acting completely professional and caring. I came to a realization that to simply try and look at the facts out of the context of the individuals involved accomplishes little. The human dynamics as well as the actions taken are all important parts of the whole situation.
Another striking situation for me happened when I visited the zone 5 police station. A victim had relayed how intimidating it was to them to have to make a police report there. Through my city councilperson, Patrick Dowd, I arranged to meet with the zone commander, and invited some folks from Persad to join us. I’m a very out-of-the-closet person, and as I stood in that waiting room and spoke through the amplified microphone to the officer on the other side of the thick Plexiglas wall, I could completely understand that person’s sense of intimidation. In this case, there was no effort by the police to treat a queer person badly, but the environment itself was insensitive to the needs of someone, who may not be out and would force a level of public disclosure that in my opinion was unacceptable for anyone to have to endure. At the same time, I came to a real awareness of why this zone station was so very sensitive to police safety. I could see and appreciate both sides, and with that information, seek a better solution for everyone.
On a very basic level, my desire to do this can be summed up in very simple terms. I pay my taxes that supplies for the public safety officers and I expect the same top rate treatment by them that everyone else gets or deserves to get. It is about making sure that the system works and works for everyone. Improving systems means understanding processes and actions devoid of assumed motives or intentions. I see my involvement on the CPRB is about using cases where some one sees a problem and using that to try and figure out how to improve the system. Additionally, it is about being a fair and thorough participant so that the person who brings a complaint can leave the process feeling assured that there voice was heard and their concern was genuinely investigated and considered.
A year after that first episode at the zone 5 station, another queer person went there to file a report. The commander, as soon as he heard there was a LGBTQ person there, went directly to them, and he and another officer took that person’s report privately. Our meeting from the previous year was still fresh and foremost in that commander’s mind. For me, that is a success. Maybe a small success, but a success nonetheless, and I think big successes come partly by building up a number of small successes so that there is a foundation upon which greater success can happen. It probably goes without saying that because one success can be named doesn’t negate the many places and situations where success has not yet been achieved, nor do I mean to suggest that. I see my involvement on the CPRB as another way to help make more successes.
One comment I have heard is that the CPRB can’t be counted upon, but this has most often come from folks who have never filed a complaint. I think there is a lack of understanding as to how the CPRB functions and what it can and cannot accomplish. I hope that as I work on the Board, I can help the community better understand this and then take advantage of this important resource.
Now the question to address is how will this affect my blog? The easiest answer is that once a complaint has been filed with the CPRB, I won’t be able to say anything at all about it in my blog. If anything happens that I feel a desire to write about, I am likely, within the blog, to encourage everyone who feels that there is a problem to file a complaint with the CPRB. The Board can’t try to do a good job for people if no one files a complaint with the board. So I’m likely to be an ongoing reminder to use this resource that is there for you the citizens of Pittsburgh, whenever you feel there is an issue with the police. And I’m likely to be encouraging you to file a complaint even if it seems like a small matter. Even small matters can lead to small successes that can grow into big successes. Yes, this will mean that there may be real news and important issues that in the past I would have blogged about, and now, I will not.
Another major change to the blog may be that I will refrain from replying to comments as much. In the past I have often felt that if in a comment, I was being challenged or misrepresented, I believed I needed to respond. I may do much less of that in the future. I’m not willing to get caught up in a small argument that might take the focus away from the bigger picture.
Another change may be that it will seem as if I am less critical about something related to the city or the public safety. Let me use a similar situation as an example. The other day a person I don’t know that well commented to me at the gym, that they were surprised that I never say anything negative about the Delta Foundation in my blog. They asked, does that mean I think everything Delta does is perfect? I replied, it didn’t mean that at all. Because I’m on the Board of Delta, the proper place for me to express my thoughts about Delta is at the Delta board meetings, not in my blog. If it seems like I am not critical about something, it should not be assumed that my quiet means any one thing or another, except that I may have other, direct routes to express my concerns that are more appropriate than in this personal yet public blog.
I am many things including an artist, a partner, a community member, a blogger, an advocate, and activist, and a thinker. As a blogger, many of these roles that I am come through, and I don’t really expect that part to change. But I am also now a public official- a public servant of sorts responsible to all of the residents of the City of Pittsburgh, and I don’t take that responsibility lightly. As a blogger, I was responsible mainly to myself, the facts as I saw them, and possibly to my readers. Now I am responsible to many more in addition to being responsible to myself, and I must act in ways that are genuine, respectful, courageous, and committed to justice.
Photo Credit: Some rights reserved by richardefreeman
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