first thank you all for coming taking time out of your day to join us this is obviously the first of my crime and safety meetings here as the commanding officer of district 5 I want to thank our partners here community warehouse for allowing us to use this facility we tried to have it outside so we could responsibly socially distance and not being kind of an enclosed area the weather didn't work out so this worked out perfectly for us so we've had a crazy few months I am David Feldman I am the new captain at district 5 I have been here since April the end of April so I was the acting captain I was in that capacity as the acting captain I was a lieutenant I was also assigned to internal affairs so I was doing two jobs for a little while it was kind of a headache I took over just in time to deal with colvett pandemic and some civil unrest that we had in our city I've been tested quite a bit to say the least but I'm still here I'm still standing so a little bit about me I'm completing my twenty-fifth year with the Milwaukee Police Department as an officer as a sworn officer I'll have 25 complete in the summer I've had a chance to work a whole lot of different assignments I started out at District seven I worked there for about six and a half years I got transferred in a large 300 person transfer under chief Jones and I got sent to district 5 and I spent six and a half years here at District five and it was wonderful it was very challenging but it was wonderful during that time I had a seasonal job as a harbor patrol officer which if you can ask any of the guys or gals on this job that have ever done that that is the coolest job that we have hands-down largest square mileage patrol area in the entire country and you get to work on some of the coolest equipment that any officer ever gets to work on so I'm blessed in that regard I'm an instructor I've taught at the academy defensive and arrest tactics firearms simunition x' i teach fair and impartial policing I'm an adjunct instructor with the University Northwestern University Center for Public Safety I've got a degree in psychology I was promoted off of the boats and out of district five went to internal affairs as an investigator I spent three years there I got to see all kinds of things it one opened my eyes to maybe some of the things that we were hearing from the community it also gave me an understanding of how our department works from the inside and gave me some insight into that from there I went and worked on the tactical enforcement unit as an operator and as a team leader again some pretty interesting stuff you get tested there on that unit that is when someone is having a really really bad day and it's not just that someone it's also the officers who are sent to respond to that someone who's having a really bad day and those officers can't resolve that situation so they send in specially trained individuals I was part of that unit some of the most satisfying work I've ever done some of the scariest work I've ever done I got promoted off that unit became a lieutenant I was a shift commander at district four up on the far north side that was the early shift shift commander again got a chance to work with the community I had great employees that I worked with I think we did well they're dealing with crime issues other social issues and really bringing in that district forward from where it I was then selected to go back to Internal Affairs and I was a lieutenant now I'm you know a decision-maker up there that's tough it's tough not a lot of people get the chance to be in that position worked with the chief a lot I at that point was dealing with discipline of officers when we deal with misconduct and other things so it gave me some insight into how and why we discipline our officers what types of things we disciplined them for and what kind of impact that has on all of us I had gone through the captains process a few times didn't get it didn't get it and get it and finally was told you're gonna get it and then was promptly transferred to district 5 to take over as as the old captain captain turchynov itch was retiring I was put into the new expand it was mine as the acting captain and then all of that I just explained kovat civil unrest crime rates skyrocketing violent crime rates all of that I kind of stepped into so that's a little bit about me some have asked what are my goals for this department what are my goals for this district for this department for my people the giant elephant in the room has been a police community relations it has been for a while and I'm trying to get people to understand that I'm trying to learn about it myself where it comes from why maybe we have some of the difficulties we have so my goal is to bridge that gap to get us more involved in the community as we see crime rates starting to rise and violent crime rates starting to rise and let's be honest they are out of control we need help we need help we need help from the community we need help from you we also need help to understand what it is that our community needs and wants from us we're not clairvoyant I wish I could move read minds I can't we need help so we need to bring everybody to the table and when I say everybody that means everybody those of you who come to these crime and safety meetings all the time we know you're gonna be there and we thank you for that we also need those individuals who are sitting there going home I wonder what's that what that's like if you know people who sit on the outside and say I'd like to get involved but I'm not sure what I can do bring them along if you know people who say yeah nobody's gonna listen to me I've been to jail nobody's been we're gonna listen to me I've been arrested no one's gonna listen to me I've been talked to by the police a hundred times you know last month this month in my lifetime whatever it is no one's gonna talk to me I issued a complaint against an officer because I didn't like the service that I got if you know people who are in that boat you need to bring them to the table as well they have a voice in this they have a responsibility in this so our officers go out and then you hear it all the time and sometimes it starts to become cliche and I get it I get it I get it I get it but they do truly put their lives on the line for this community they really do but they can't do it alone they absolutely can't do it alone so we ask for your help so that's one of my goals the other goal let's bring the crime rate down right how do we stop it how do we stop all of it that would be great I would love to be able to put together a formula that says if we do this and we do this and we do this it's all going to disappear it's not that simple we're human beings making choices I'm not there when you make that choice sometimes that choice gets made inside a home in circumstances that might not allow that individual to probably make the choice that we would make so again we need your help we need the community partners we need individual organizations that have that reach into that home and we will do our part if you invite us into your home absolutely we'll be there that's not always an option for a lot of people not yet anyway hopefully we get to that point where absolutely mom dad guardian brother sister whatever can pick up that phone call up officer so-and-so who they have a relationship with who knows that circumstance who knows that family who can say I know exactly what I need to say to John Julie mom dad whoever to try and resolve whatever issue that they're working with be able to give them resources to be able to resolve whatever issue they're dealing with that we can't there are many things that we get called to that we respond to and we do it happily because that's our job we swore an oath to do so we are ill-equipped to be able to help you in many of those regards we try and they try and train us CIT that's a big one mental health that's a large issue that we see throughout many of the communities within this city we're trained as best we can to stabilize a situation that many times it's ongoing we don't know how to deal with the source because we weren't there when it began and we're not trained we're not psychologists unless somebody happens to be a psychologist we're not therapists unless somebody just happens to be a therapist but many times that's what we're asked to do and we do it gladly and we do it to the best of our ability but we can't always do it crime rate right the other part of trying to get our goal that I have for our district is just for us internally as police members to be more professional more professional more human to understand that the individuals that they're interacting with on a daily basis the people that call for them the people who are saying I'm in crisis I need your help to be able to have them look at those individuals and say you're a human being and I'm going to help you but more than that it's getting them to show all of you that behind this badge under this vest is also a human being if I cut my arm and I cut your arm and I cut your arm and I cut your arm we're probably going to bleed what color is that blood going to be it's going to be red and it's going to be pumping from the same biological mechanism if we strip it all away when we get to know each other we treat each other like human beings and we start to truly understand that we start to realize how much more alike we are than we are different I had an opportunity during a lot of the civil unrest to take walks and I know that made some of my subordinates a little nervous what's the captain doing why is he walking out there he doesn't have a vest on he doesn't have a gun on we can't be afraid to provide service in our community I say this over and over and over again I teach code of conduct to our new police recruits and that's usually on day one or two right so there's their brand-spankin'-new and I tell them this over and over again you cannot be afraid to police this community you can't be because the citizens live here they depend on you they're not afraid to live here because they're living here we can't believe we can't be afraid to provide service to people who live here professionalism that's a big deal for me customer service that's a big deal for me I tell that to the people I work with we are in the customer service business in fact arguably the best customer service business that you are going to find sometimes it's not to the liking of the individual who calls but think about it when you pick up the phone for almost anything and when I say almost anything in my 25 years I've gone to just about everything from squirrels in the Attic to my plumbing doesn't work - I don't know how to you know fix my lock all the way up to the big ones that we all know of homicides and things of that nature violent crime and everything else in between my kid won't go to bed right what would you like me to do about it but guess what I'm standing in your living room listening to how your kid can't go to bed think about that those are the types of things that we get sent to and we do it happily because we swore that oath that's our job I will tell you this and I'm not trying to politicize this in any manner way shape or form there's a narrative that's out there people are entitled to their opinion absolutely you've heard the phrase defund the police you've heard it absolutely I've heard it as well there are some would like to see whole police departments disbanded I don't know if that's practical I don't think it is I don't know of any community that's gonna say oh that's a great idea right reallocating funds from the police department okay that's a conversation we could have reallocating funds from the police department to take that money and put it towards social services put it toward mental health put it toward education absolutely we can have that discussion understand however when money is removed from one entity that means the capability of that entity to do and provide some of the services that they provide starts to go down and that's part of that's part of what we need to deal with internally as a department how do we become more efficient with less and we've been doing that in the 25 years I've been on every year it's less less less less less and I get it the dollar can only go so far there's only so many pieces of the pie I understand that my colleagues on the seventh floor and when I say seventh floor that's our executive command those are Chiefs assistant Chiefs inspectors those are the policy makers the decision makers they understand that as well and this is not to shock or scare anybody but as we're on the subject of diminishing resources that also means that we will probably have to retool some of our priority our call priority list so some of those services some of those calls that community members are accustomed to us responding to we probably won't be responding to and I can tell you with certainty that the 7th floor is looking at that call priority and trying to figure out how do we slash because it's a very real thing and again I'm not trying to scare anybody that's not it that's not it at all we will still provide services absolutely we will still continue to come it's just what are we going to be responding to and right now I don't know what does that mean right now in the in the immediate future or in the present nothing right now it's still the same we still respond to what we respond to that hasn't changed but understand that that's looming those are going to be discussions that our elected officials are going to have to have those are going to be discussions that also internally we're going to have to have community is going to absolutely have to have a say in that so if you have an opinion about any of it get involved get involved part of getting involved too is getting yourself registered to vote getting yourself to the poll making yourself heard now there are some during our civil unrest who are not happy with the way that we handled many of the interactions that we had with some of the crowds right I can tell you that some of us in the department weren't crazy about how we had to interact with some of the individuals in the crowds right it's a complicated subject I am NOT going to make excuses for anyone some of it is policy that I I just can't share because I don't have the authority to share with but the department especially in the environment and the climate and with the narrative and rhetoric that we heard and some of it absolutely say it you need to because there needed to be changed and we 100% support people's right to voice their opinion but we got putting in a really precarious position it was difficult for us because we're protecting individuals right to demonstrate voice their opinion show their frustration absolutely we're protecting that we swore an oath protect the Constitution and say you have the right to do that in this country without any kind of repercussions the catch-22 for us is that we have just as many individuals who are calling us and saying they're tearing up my street they're blocking my street they're causing vandalism they're doing X Y & Z why aren't you doing anything about it difficult decisions some of those decisions were made at levels much higher than than mine some of the decisions I was able to take care of in the district by us I would get a report hey we're gotten 150 marchers that are coming down the street they didn't pull up on what do you want us to do well let's be honest you didn't pull a permit you really don't have the permission to take up that street block traffic stop members from getting to and from work shutting off access to businesses that are just trying to make a living but I had to balance some of that with all right people's right to peacefully assemble and we did that to the best of our ability now there were some Knights in front of our district that let's face it just got out of control completely got out of control my objective on those nights was to preserve district 5 and I even talked with individuals in the crowd and told them these officers are standing on the line for a reason if this building burns and Falls and everybody in it is not here anymore what does the neighborhood do the neighborhood in the community the only reason that building is there it's the bride service for that neighborhood if it's not there what do we do I didn't want to find out the National Guard that's somebody else's decision that was not my decision I'm thankful that someone was willing to come and help us do I think we needed them I think on most nights probably not some of the things that I learned while walking through the crowds and speaking with individuals on my walks unprotected much to the dismay of many of my subordinates was some of the anger and frustration that was coming out of the demonstrations and why it was coming out of the demonstrations it's very real some of the reasons why district 5 and a lot of people keep asking why district 5 was the epicenter of a lot of that and I apologize and I'm 197 tonight so what that means is I am the acting night inspector so that executive level people that I talked about I'm one of them tonight for the entire city so I act on behalf of the chief so I might be a little distracted if somebody calls me and tells me there's something important going on somewhere else but I'm here because this is much more important to me but the frustration the anger that was coming out of that crowd I understand it and I got to hear some of the stories some of the experiences that people shared with me what I brought back from that and what I tried to share with my officers and try to get my officers to see and maybe understand and maybe think a little differently about what they were seeing was that everybody's experience is valid maybe because I didn't go through something doesn't mean that you didn't and that it didn't impact you and maybe it impacted you negatively and maybe you didn't have any context for it maybe you don't know why that's where we sit down we have those conversations but to get my officers to understand the things that you hear and believe me we heard some incredible stuff I was interviewed by the Journal Sentinel and one of the questions that the reporter asked was what is one of the worst things that you heard coming out of the crowd I told him I can't say most of what I heard it was unbelievable to me to hear some of the things that were being said how you could say that to another human being who you don't know how you could say that to another human being who was just doing their job some of these officers are brand new out of the Academy they've worked in the neighborhoods for a few weeks a few months some of them less than a year haven't done anything bad to anybody some of them haven't done anything bad to anybody their entire lives and here they are standing on the line being told you should die your family should die and it got much worse than that but getting officers to understand that that anger some of those things that you're hearing it's not to you it's to a much larger sometimes perceived and sometimes real broken system that we are all a part of we as law enforcement unfortunately are the most visible most accessible part of that system like I told you before calls because someone's kid won't go to bed try getting no offense to our elected officials but try getting an alderman to come to your house because your kid won't go to bed try calling up a judge to come and take a report about your car try getting the DA to come out they're not even at work right now they're all working from home because who's not working from home guess who's working everyday from their work locations people wearing the uniforms that I'm wearing and I'm trying not to get preachy and I know sometimes I can get a little I can draw it on a little bit and I apologize for that but I need people to understand that these are conversations we have I think the narrative out there makes it seem as if we all believe this one thing as law enforcement and we watch something happen across the across the country and we all sit back and go oh yeah there was just a fight no that's not the way it works George Floyd it's what brought us to our this head right this is something that's been building and building and building and building and building but let's face it that image that video also watching someone kill somebody else live now I'm going to tell you to a man and a woman the minute that came out I told every one of my supervisors on all five shifts to play that video watch it understand how wrong that is understand that is not us that officer did not work for the Milwaukee Police Department no one in our Police Department is trained in that manner that is not how you treat a human being period we got on the same page and every one of us can look at that and say that was murder I think sometimes those types of conversations because communities can't be in that room when we have them it's believed those conversations don't happen that couldn't be further from the truth I mean to bring the whole room down a little bit but this is serious and I tell my officers this is serious what we do is serious we are human beings dealing with human beings many times we work in and we hear it all the time right there's black and white and then there's gray we work in a lot of gray we get asked to do a lot of things with very little information it's difficult sometimes when we show up on a scene and everybody is emotional and the scene is chaotic and you don't understand what's happening all you know is people are pointing in a direction and saying there's the person in the middle of that giant fight so the two of you you and your partner you go bring a resolution to that oh and by the way there may be a few guns in the crowd that's what our officers deal with and I don't excuse anybody's behavior when they can't be professional when they can't treat somebody with dignity when they can't treat somebody with like a human being we all know what that looks like so that was a very long roundabout way for me to say those are my goals for district 5 and I encourage each and every one of you to be a part of those goals because I need you I need your help we need your help we can't get this done alone we absolutely cannot we've done a really good job in the history of our Police Department know figuring out how to police right the police part of it we've got a hundred different techniques a million different strategies all kinds of cool equipment in certain work locations I think we need a lot of work on the community part of our community policing strategy and that's where you come in and I'm willing to sit down and listen to anybody who is willing to sit and talk with me and when I say listen not just to say yeah I sat down with that person and that was great and then I get up and that's it ask anybody who's worked with me anyone who's worked for me or anyone I've worked for I take everything that comes my way I think about it and I try and figure out a way how do we employ this how can I take your idea and have it work for both of us I may not be able to take all of it there may be some things statutorily or even training-wise or from a strategic standpoint that we just can't do we're not built to do but there may be part of your idea that absolutely will work so again thank you for coming thank you for the welcome and we'll get on with the rest of our or meeting here so they gave me these stats you can take a look at or you know what you guys can read right you see the number on the on the bottom aggravated assaults 123 burglaries 38 all of that absolutely so here's just one one thing so you can look at those things you can see where they're happening if you have questions obviously we can answer them afterwards but I'm going to open it up for a question and answer for me because I'm sure a lot of people are curious what departments or divisions or agencies or committees within our government do you think that can help you support your goals the most oh I mean you make reference to our older men Common Council or debating on how to reform the police department many of those older men and women chair committees on certain boards that I believe could dramatically assist you in your goals and one that comes to mind for me is a licensed internet Dean you know and their ability to give a help or take away licenses for businesses that could potentially be chronic problems and neighborhoods and in chronic problems for the police department so just also so that I know so I can talk to my all come in a woman you know what what other agencies well so it sounds like you answered your own question right our elected officials so those individuals that hold those offices they're also the ones that hold our purse strings they're the ones that either approve or deny funding and resources and where it goes they chair those committees that make the decision as to how licensing will be handled what type of laws we're gonna have on the books to enforce even to what extent we're going to enforce those laws so if you're looking for an avenue to find an ally for the police department or an entity within the city to try and help that's that's a good place to start elected officials we have a fire and police commission right now is under some transition to put it politely but they are there the governing body for the police department our boss is the chief the chief has a boss as well so another place to start and then community organizations community warehouse hunger task force places like that that have influence with our elected officials again you see a theme it's kind of coming back all back around and how do we influence our elected officials we get ourselves registered and we go and vote that's how we do it and when they have town hall meetings we show up in mass we voice our opinion and when we want to seek an audience with them we persist so we make that change other questions where's the date for our stats so no go ahead so and I apologize there's another there's another group of stats that I get from our really smart people up in the Office of Management and planning but over the last several weeks for whatever reason I get the email but there's no stats and I get a little line unfortunately we're not able to give you whatever so that particular work location within our department might be under some transition as well I think we all are there's that's I'm going to share this as well we've got a lot of people who are leaving a lot of people who are leaving there's a lot of experience that's leaving and I am thankful and I'm amazed that we have as many people who volunteer or sign up or seek a position in the police department to take those places but it's going to take a while to replace that experience so the reason why we're having so many people leave is in the 90s we had cops grants that allowed us to hire a lot of police officers not just in our city all across the country many big cities like ours have a 25 year and out eligibility for retirement and just like I'm reaching that retirement age many other people are as well we're talking about a 40 plus percent turnover over the last five years it's all hot and some of the individuals who said no problem I will stay on I'll be that voice of reason I will be that guiding source I will be that experience the last month month and a half you can imagine what some of those decisions are like why am I staying why would I stay to do this my family endured me leaving the home every day and hoping that I came back and one piece physically psychologically emotionally spiritually which is difficult to do they endured all of that I got to the finish line they would like me to now be theirs and I think at one point they were willing to say you know what I'll share my loved one for a little bit longer no problem now not so much would you be supportive of the city reinforcement residency requirements possibly they don't see if this is citizens that they served what they see is negative so I've got mixed feelings on that I live in the city obviously the majority of my career I had the residency so I had to live here I raise my kids here you can never go wrong with living where you work you just can't I think it says a lot 1 if you have just from an economic standpoint individuals who have gainful employment who own their houses who recreative a good and then from a social standpoint individuals who we hope that the individuals that we're hiring are the type of people that we want to be your neighbor and if we have them here absolutely now I'm also a big choice person all right so we talk about diversity and we talk about the lack of diversity in some of our surrounding suburbs some of our city employees one was certain demographic right without trying to racialize things if we want to grow the diversity throughout southeastern Wisconsin why would we make people only live in one particular area and that's the mixed feelings that I have if the department said or if the city said hey there's a residency well and that's what it is right [Music] inside of the city many of them come with their own prejudices that are stereotypes because they have not interact with people government so that that's what lead to knowledge it's people of color but just people who live in the city period and we need to know some of the things that people were feeling because of the civil rights things that are happening to see that having the captured absolutely and that absolutely can happen it can you can also build resentment right when you can't have your family have your children go to the school that you want them to go to if you can't buy the house with the property that you want to right so like I said I have mixed feelings on it if the city decided hey we're going back to that I don't think there's anything bad that can happen I think you know can only be good but again I think it's got to be a mindset change and I think we really need to think regionally about where we're at I hope that answers your question and having a community meeting in this format can be as personal as we can and kind of hold it I guess the question I have is I live here Harambee and my perception of having been a long time resident is that the community members have lost their trust in the police in general and the fifth District specifically because the best way I can put it is that the police never seem to be there when the crime is occurring you know absolutely if the cops aren't here what the crime is occurring now the cops gonna not only stop this crime but protect me because I just call it you guys thank you so we have captain's meetings every Wednesday so all captain's have to go and talk after that we have shoot review we talked about some of the non-fatal shootings and homicides that we have and the chief sits in on that and captain's get taken to task as to why we couldn't have prevented X Y & Z we get back to that resource allocation and the fact that we respond to everything sometimes we just don't have an officer there sometimes I think we don't realize how many bad things are happening in our city and I would love to have people there all the time so under our last chief we had a strategy to try and put officers in public spaces as much as they can and it's that Castro no.22 again for law enforcement for us specifically the police department and even maybe District five many individuals see us as an occupying force I'm going to tell you right now in this environment although yes we are sworn to Becton serve and yes we do our job as best we can nobody wants to push that [Music] they were police often before banking sometimes you see somebody overhead they were squad every day all day so so and that's absolutely and we do that we do that often we've just got a lot of areas to move people so okay that's unfortunately not my district but I know that the district 3 commander does the exact same thing so when we have hot spots we've got non-fatal shootings and we got lots of things that are happening in a particular area especially violent crime that's where we end up moving a lot of our beat officers we don't have many I would love to say that I've got 500 officers to be able to deploy everywhere all the time I just don't and especially during a lot of what we had over the last month and a half a lot of those officers were assigned to our major armored team so then they get pulled out of the districts to try and guard businesses to try and guard districts those types of things but we do and we'll do more I'll take a look at my resources and find out all right do I need to have this particular squad here do they need to be in a car can I put them walking I've got bicycle officers that I try and deploy as much as I can a lot of times we put a lot of resources at night so you might not always see them but they're there sometimes they're stuck on a shooting scene I don't know if you know over the weekend fourth of July we had seven shootings 13 people there are officers they have to investigate those on top of everything else that we respond to that we're getting called to and that's not an excuse that's not saying we can't be more efficient and that we can't be better at it and absolutely I appreciate people bringing that to our attention but it's not something that we don't already know and that we're not trying to address we just can't always address it as quickly as we would like but it doesn't mean we stop trying I know I probably didn't help much we're trying we are trying I'm telling you we are trying so hey I already know where the crime is I know where the crime is I just can't always get somebody they're not not that yeah not that I know of I know there are believe it or not there are major metropolitan police departments they come and recruit out of the City of Milwaukee Dallas Atlanta Phoenix places like that will send their recruiting teams to Milwaukee and try and get individuals who have grown up here or even officers who already work here who are already certified and who have some experience to come and work for them sometimes there is there's you know they'll move you they'll give you some kind of signing bonus for lack of a better I don't know if we're there is that something we should be looking at absolutely my morning in a high-level tender district but that's part of the problem so something more comfortable successful absolutely and I think more important than that is to find out why why are people who are in our department who might happen to look like me why would they be afraid to be in my position right and that's their comes they're you know they're they're lies the question right is it just the money right is it just the money is it just this is it that is it the social climate is it the stigma that's attached to it right all those things and that's that's part of that conversation we have to have that incredibly difficult conversation right where we all sit down and we're all going to have to hear some things that we don't want to hear but we're gonna have to hear it and when I say we all are going to have to hear some things that we don't want to hear everybody's gonna have to hear those things from everyone right and you can't hold it personally I can't hold it against you right I just need to hear it so I know I can't fix something I don't know what's broken right and that's what this part of this is all of you being here letting me know hey this is broken how do we fix it [Music] absolutely absolutely and I don't know why that stopped we hear coppers all the time like I used to have a pack of baseball cards and any time I come down down a street it didn't matter where I was if I pulled over and I could be a the absolute most serious call there is to go on and I would have a group of kids running up and asking if I had baseball cards and that still happened even after we stopped now I don't know if that was a partnership with the Brewers that needs to be rekindled I don't know I don't know what that is but obviously you're sharing it with me you're not the only one thinking about it and we'll we'll keep we'll keep moving that on I don't know the other the other thing that you had oh hiring more more officers and having incentives pay incentives obviously in the current climate where we have defund the police in front of City Hall right again that's where we need help from this from the elected officials how do we come to a balance how do we figure out what's going to work how do we figure out all right we need to become more efficient so we got to chop off some of the calls that we go to right and we're going to reprioritize that but we also want to keep officers out and engaged in the numbers that we need them to so that they can be in the places that we want them to be because we don't see them that's I would agree with you okay but and it becomes that vicious cycles all right because some of the some of the funding that people want to use from the police department and we're had the only ones that are funded maybe we're not the only ones that are over funded some of that money would go to some of these other resources so that we could address some of the issues some of the problems some of the circumstances some of the challenges that are influencing individuals to commit crime cut the first thing they have service when there are other way that money can be predicated stage which is reducing the amount that rolls into attention also reducing retirement practices this happening at the program since all prosperity needs work but the suddenly everyone else expected people to sing a way to serve I hear ya I hear ya and we're already starting we've now started contributing into our pension we never did that before we do it now and there's gonna be more there's gonna be nor we already know there's going to be more so you're right you're on that track the city sees it comptroller sees it elected officials see it our unions see it they know it they tell us here's what it's going to be so those things are happening and when yeah over the years I've seen some pretty successful beats and like remember when we were really building on East Capitol Drive although we change officers a few times it's there I mean I know listening to your goals I feel like having beat officers that are getting to know a very specific area is very effective especially if they're not if the officers are changing every two months which kind of happen with these Capitol Drive before and we always get wheel drive is kind of a hot mess but is there plan to incorporate more beats which gets to that community policing in so the reason I do this is at the time so I invited so hard to beat people this morality right here to our we'll see them everyone's coming get the beep okay and answer your question I am a bomb a big fan of of beats walking beats I thought I think they're very effective as well fortunately I've been a little busy with some of the other things that are happening so once things kind of settle down and I get to see exactly what I have as far as personnel and where I can stick beat officers and where I could make some of those changes absolutely we'll be doing that yes so a lot of it is related to calls for service and the types of calls for service so if we have calls like gambling open-air drug dealing those types of things things that are going to be seen on the street right that we can disrupt or even apprehend someone doing it and when I say gambling so and I don't know if you guys know this so the dice games that you see sometimes in the alleys and the vacant garages sometimes even open in the sidewalk so people will tell you it's just a game it's just the game kids having fun we've had two homicides and probably five non-fatal shootings related to those face games those gambling's those it's just a game it gets incredibly serious there's a lot of money that's involved and a lot of times it's young kids so the guy who's the winner ultimately becomes a loser at the end of the night because someone gets robbed or the guy who lost a lot of money is now angry and now the gunplay starts so calls like that we can disrupt that because we all know bullets don't have eyes we've heard far too often some of those news stories somebody's sitting on grandpa's lap or someone was in their bed or whatever the scenario was they stem from some of those things and then I'm sorry did that answer your question absolutely and I think why not people are trying to change their narrative and I believe that having those conversations and relationships and like everybody else pointed will change you so I kind of wanted to know like your go especially to someone you know what the plan to really change the narrative young people and I'm even you know I know a lot of them talk about the 18 to 25 DB younger but they also are filling ways and I think one conversation goes to another conversation did it cost another conversation then it's a whole group but to really sit in and to you know what are your goals to me well I'd like to bridge that gap just like I would with any age group right and you're gonna be a part of that so give me a call we'll sit down and I mean that because that is that that is a an age group that I think is forgotten about now we've seen it in other communities where that age group is exposed to a lot of stuff and if maybe we pull out some of the mentors or we pull out some of the positive role models that they have a chance to maybe model themselves around and maybe can avoid some of the same behaviors or some of the same choices that were made before them those are pulled out what's left right the environment around them and it's a learned behavior there's a lot of confusion and then if you get into that for lack of a better term system that tells you that this behavior is acceptable and even if you know that it's not but everybody else is doing it and you've been seeing that and now you're 15 16 17 18 and it's very difficult to change that so you get one of the most important jobs and influencing that that's the kind of help that I'm talking about that's the kind of help that we need thank you I hope that you teach you well and everyone is well respected my goal is to work with our younger children that I still see that time many times when they see our officers they shy away they don't want to talk to them because we put this image on officers if they're all it's happening everywhere I see when we see our journalists which I write here my speaking right across where liquor stores don't forget that so my thing is to continue to work with our children and let me mount an officer salute you know letting them know that their dreams and their careers can be leaders and officers doctors teachers and I would just like to see more of that happen even with me by even you know getting out in the park you know I like taking children and just getting a group level I thought this isn't just for a little bit it's everywhere around me and I'll continue to strive to that because that's carefully and I love our offices absolutely you know I appreciate that and thank you so in my 25 years one of the things that absolutely drives me crazy it makes me more angry than anything it's when we're either in a store or we go to a call or we're walking on the street and you got a little kid three four five six seven eight small who might be acting up acting like a kid right because children are children and you see that parent or that guardian or that that adult figure in their life you income by the arm and say knock that off or I'll call the police knock that off or I'll send I'll send you with them right that is more detrimental just that that little phrase is more detrimental than some of the other things that we see because then it's reinforced great because then when the officers are actually called and they do have to take some kind of enforcement action because someone's asking them to and now they not a little kids watching us thinking holy crap that's going to happen to me and that starts the fear [Music] absolutely short news cycle that happens constantly so one of the things that well from a youth standpoint is I know the chief is trying to start back up the Police Athletic League pal where you have officers who are coaches and mentors and kids get to do an activity that's fun and that's positive and they get to see officers outside of the job and then they start to realize hey you're the guys I'll come to the call the other night and you were really scary but now you're standing here and you're teaching me how to dribble a basketball or you're teaching me how to ride a bike or you're teaching me how to hit a baseball or whatever the activity is with other uniform you're a human being it would always it would always kind of amuse me when we would sit down and eat as officers in uniform you go to a restaurant you'd sit down and eat and we've all been there and you got that little kid who's looking at you and is absolutely amazed to see you putting something in your mouth like holy cow they eat yeah we eat we're human beings right that's the kind of image sometimes that we need to be able to show them that were we're human and that's what I talked about earlier on right there's a human being underneath this vest behind this badge and we need to get better at being able to show that but we also need your help because a lot of that's learned behavior we do absolutely talk about the police oftentimes consolation goes what are we going to do to prevent situation from the car mm-hmm we know again police officers are not a prevention net it's not necessarily the goal that's not enrolled so as we have that conversation of prevention how can officers start to be a part of that conversation of prevention outside of what you've already said what do you want to do for district 5 around prevention so obviously we have a CPU unit right who works with a lot of the community organizations I personally would like to see officers outside of work getting involved in things boys boy Boys and Girls Clubs can I make that happen I cannot force anyone to do that outside of work I can't I can encourage people to do that right and I know there's officers that do already and highlighting what they already do and getting them to be that informal leader to say hey come join me get partners to come join me right there are some incentives of course it comes back to money right why I'm off duty it's a day off or whatever and if we have money in the budget okay you can earn some overtime maybe you can earn comp time to come in and do this thing not in uniform not as a law enforcement agent not as any kind of taking enforcement action but just to do that but those are all things that I got to think about those are things that I got to figure out right we talked about that earlier how does your idea how do I get it to work and benefit us as a community and I'm going to do that I got to try I got to figure it out as you heard quite frankly this evening there's not enough of it I agree with you and you know why because we're the ones that are responding to these calls right police law enforcement in general the very nature of what we do is reactionary it really is there's very few things that are truly proactive what are proactive are so safe and sound partnerships things of that nature that's proactive right because we're getting in on the ground floor and not only are we getting in on the ground floor but we're doing it with youth who are three four five six seven before they ever even get a chance to get into any kind of trouble that's true prevention [Music] there yeah there's been a break emails were our neighborhood watch captain and they are also disseminate through their residents so we've traversed busy but the time you have you said that the dates and locations for remainder of the area [Music] and with and with the commanding officers preference ya know he moves but that all our radar will kill sighs we have a hillside and arrest those like it's their clothes now just hold it you share like from your district Facebook out into the world like unless you're on that beach you know some of you I know are on different pages you know share it from that's that's that help that we were talking about but I'm saying if the page should be because then it's somebody else that's not organization all the time and they get to work with connected to why doesn't she send this and second would she have a resource for you to get in contact with the apartment owners or [Applause] I said leg time not leg work leg time lag time pull work on it we'll work on it my honor my understanding is all the woman cogs is the most active author person that we have in district 5 by far no so and because of co vid we just haven't been able to meet people at civic city hall just they can't we're here I'm ready any time anybody wants to meet wherever what but yeah and that's so that some of the challenges obviously we'll work on it I would love to have this place packed absolutely yes how well you guys handled what just happened whole country was in shambles I was really sure why he was next and some hungry guys it wasn't just us we were present right and we were ready to deal with whatever we were gonna have to deal with but the individuals in the crowd so I met an individual dr. Ramel Smith some of you might know I met him at the Chiefs are at the mayor's press conference the day after the looting at the Walgreens and there were 30 other stores and nobody knows about in our district and then another like 40 across the entire city that were also looted and set on fire and other things right so he was talking to my my chief and asked who from district 5 can I get in contact with and really start to move this thing forward and of course the Chiefs standing next to me this guy right here he's going to be taking over I'm gonna be promoting him all that so I got his uh his phone number and I sent him a text message and he sent me one back throughout the entirety of our civil unrest we were in contact and I let him know hey I need help I need help here I need help there this is what I'm hearing from the crowd this is what I'm seeing and he had a group and I believe he and some of the others work for the office of violence prevention with Reggie Moore they would be in the crowd they would be in the crowd telling people keep it peaceful say what you need to say absolutely keep it peaceful when you saw individuals who were riding through the crowd with backpacks and face masks we had people with bricks like backpacks full of bricks that were ready to go smash things his group would recognize that shout them down get them to move on so it was a it was a full community effort with and yes we were ready and yes we took some heat and yes we had officers hurt I had officers that were hit with bricks that were concussed that were taken to hospitals that have broken bones and an officer that was shot we had an officer that was hit by a car we signed up for that and I was saying that that's what they deserved not in the least no one deserves that but we understand what that risk is but I also show appreciation for groups like his that made sure that our city didn't burn that we didn't turn into Minneapolis Atlanta Chicago New York some of these other places that had some real problems and that's not to say that we don't have issues that we need to deal with absolutely but it's going to take all of us and it's going to take all of us acting responsibly so when I say thank you and I appreciate the fact that you recognize the things that our people did I also recognize what our citizens did what our community members did that is not lost on me that is not lost on the officers that worked at district 5 they'll understand that all right so I think we are nearing the end of this thank you all for coming thank you all for being so welcoming all of what we discussed believe me I'm taking it all in I've got my officers here they've got great memories as well I can hand out some business cards