Hosted by the Pasadena NAACP, newly hired Pasadena Police Chief Eugene Harris, met with parents and members of the public to share his vision for the future of the Pasadena Police Department.
The new chief emphasized accountability of officers, transparency, better hiring practices and community engagement. Harris believes officers should be directly involved in the community. In his police department officers will walk beats and meet the people who make up Pasadena’s neighborhoods. Visiting neighborhood facilities like Impact House, are going to be required in Harris’ department. “We really need to develop partnerships, partnerships are the key word,” said Harris. Harris admitted that he did not always have such an enlightened view of policing. When he started his career he saw that some officers just “wanted to jack people up.” He pointed to his own tragedy as the turning point which changed his views on what police should look like. “My son was murdered in 2005, he was 18, shot five times,” said Harris to a stunned audience. “I was a broken dude; I was a broken man. There’s nothing that anybody can teach me about pain but what I figured out after that, was how you treat people.” Harris admitted that the police culture is “impacted” when confronted with concerns about police culture and mental health of officers. The new police chief explained that there are mental health programs and counselors in place for his officers and that their mental well-being will be an important issue in his administration. Harris wants to recruit a wide range of people, including from HBCUs, to make the department more “relevant and robust.” He also noted that early prevention of “bad apples” in the department will start with better hiring practices, and end with stricter policies. “I won’t bring people on who aren’t moving in the direction we need to move,” said Harris. “If I have any inclination that there’s an issue, I would rather run short than have people who can’t get there.” Nicole Bernard, a vice president of Pasadena NAACP, was credited with putting together the opportunity to meet the new chief. She, and her organization, want the community to feel able to hold a dialogue and work with local leadership. “I believe in bridging the gap between the community and organizations,” said Bernard. “It was important to me, having a new chief for Pasadena, and giving him and the community the opportunity to get to know each other in a safe environment.” Not everyone was completely convinced by Harris’ open and direct style. Some in the audience questioned the purpose of having police on campus when those resources could be spent on more preventive measures. Florence Annang a minister and member of the Pasadena NAACP, thinks plainclothes resource officers or mental help specialists would be more helpful to students returning after COVID absences. She believes schools should be welcoming safe spaces, without police. The Pasadena Police Department currently trains school security for the Pasadena School District, according to their website. Harris stated that police will, for now, remain on campuses but urged parents to partner with them. Alison Crawford, education committee chair of the Pasadena NAACP, urged caution. She welcomed police into communities but suggested there was some work to do before they have a place in schools. “See the parents as partners because our kids are at the schools, we’re the first teachers of our children, we’re the ones voting,” said Crawford. “So, if you want to partner with our schools, partner with the parents. Start there because we’re the community.” |
|
