Statement on Denver City Council Proposal 20 – 0842

August 17, 2020

Statement on Denver City Council Proposal 20-0842

DASHR OPPOSES PROPOSAL TO ESTABLISH “DEPARTMENT OF PEACEKEEPING SERVICES”

Denver Alliance for Street Health Response (DASHR) has been working on creating alternatives to policing and jail since 2018, with some of our members working long before that on alternatives and criminal justice reform. Our efforts mainly focused on bringing a non-police model to Denver, inspired by a program in Eugene, Oregon called CAHOOTS. This effort resulted in the launch of the STAR pilot program (Support Team Assisted Response) on June 1st with continuing efforts in other cities in Colorado. 

As an organization that has as its main goal to create alternatives to our traditional responses to public safety issues, we anticipated initiatives to transform safety given the current moment following the George Floyd and Breonna Taylor murders and protests that resulted across the country. We became aware of a proposal to be heard by city council to add a ballot issue to create a “Department of Peacekeeping” to replace the current Denver Police Department. We have concerns about this proposal and as such, officially oppose this initiative for the following reasons.

Rebuilding or rebranding? This proposal suggests the designation of a Department of Peacekeeping Services with a Peace Force to replace the Denver Police Department. Based on the language of the proposal, this feels more like changing the name without making meaningful change to the purpose and role in society of policing. We feel compelled to note that police are already considered “peace officers” and as such, all officers in Colorado go through the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) board to be certified (and decertified) to serve as law enforcement in our state. We don’t believe that changing the name of the department, especially  invoking the word “peace” as it’s already part of their title, changes the nature of policing itself. This component of the proposal seems to lean towards rebranding rather than transformation.

Refunding the Police. Most concerning about this proposal is that it does not appear to  redirect money and resources from policing. It states, “This department shall be funded adequately. It shall subsume all funding currently allocated to the Police Department. Similarly, for any function that this department takes over that was previously administered by a different department, all funding for such services will be transferred to the department of Peacekeeping Services.” Not only does this not direct funding away from policing, but as worded, along with the component of “Creating and staffing specific outreach teams to deal with underlying problems that can lead to unlawful and or violent behavior before it happens”, this proposal  seems to increase funding for the department that would replace DPD, while largely not changing the personnel. 

An additional concern is that the proposal states that the Department of Peacekeeping Services would “subsume” other departments including the police department.These departments are not specified. As our work as an organization is to create programs that are distinctly separate from the police department, we have serious concerns about what would be absorbed by this new department, which makes clear that it will mostly include current police. This is the wrong direction and carries great implications for funding priorities and real attempts to create and sustain alternatives. 

Additional concerns include the following: 

• In 1.f.i it states that the committee to create the proposal for the implementation of the Peace Force will make the distinction between three members of the public and two community leaders. What specifically is that distinction and how can the community be assured that their collective voice will be heard outside of public listening sessions?
• In 1.e the proposal notes that training, policies, and procedures will be created in “collaboration with minority groups,” however this has the appearance of  diversity trainings that are already common practice in police departments. DASHR believes in community ownership of crisis, not merely consultation.
• Where does the Denver Sheriff’s Department and the jail fit into this vision for a Department of Peacekeeping Services? Given the history of violence against community members within the jail itself, we have interest in knowing where the facilitation of the jail fits into a transformed vision that includes the proposed Department.

The one component of the proposal that our organization agrees with is making the distinction that there will be officers who will not be able to arrest or carry weapons into situations; however, this is not enough to convince us to support this proposal overall as it’s currently worded. Ultimately, this proposal does more to merely rebrand a violent, dehumanizing approach to public safety crises, rather than transform it. This proposal also carries problematic implications for combining the current department with its rebrand together with other departments and agencies, resulting in even more funding for a system we don’t trust. DASHR still believes in creating real alternatives to police and not being resigned to call them anything but alternatives. This includes divesting the bloated public safety budget into meeting basic human needs, community empowerment, alternative responses, and healing mechanisms such as restorative practices. 

About DASHR

Denver Alliance for Street Health Response (DASHR) is a coalition of groups and individuals who create and support community- based responses to crisis and conflict, as well as forge new narratives of public health and safety.