Race equity report highlights work ahead for Salem

Aug. 4—SALEM — A major report documenting close to a year of work by the Race Equity Task Force highlights the difficult steps necessary to make Salem more equitable for all. And pages of anonymous interviews with city police officers show many layers to that conversation.

"Police are public enemy #1 now. Getting from both sides (ex. Capitol riot)," one officer told task force members, according to notes from the interview published in the report. "At first take, the job was exciting and new, but it does start to wear on you. Times are different now."

The report comes as the city's race equity efforts are waiting on the City Council to move forward. The task force's work has concluded, and a request from Mayor Kim Driscoll to create a full commission and continue the work is in front of the council's ordinance committee, according to the city clerk's office.

"At least from the city's perspective, the Race Equity Task Force is going to help us chart a course forward," Driscoll said. "This report gives us guidelines to follow moving forward, some specific action items, and how we can approach addressing inequities in our community."

The report includes separate sections breaking down the efforts, findings, and recommendations of the group's five subcommittees. It also includes two appendices with about a dozen pages documenting anonymous conversations with Salem police officers. The document was first released in mid-July, but then recalled by the city for some revisions to avoid inadvertently identifying any of the individuals.

Task force chairman Shawn Newton explained there was a portion that "had the potential to reveal personal identifiable information. All of our surveys and interviews were taken anonymously, and I want to make sure we do our best to ensure that information shared during those processes are handled with care."

The original 69-page version was distributed July 14, and then removed from online and re-published on Aug. 3 after revisions were made. The revised report, which now omits the responses from police officers, is available at raceequitysalem.org.

A vision for future equity efforts

Many suggestions in the document are already in process. One portion suggests the city "actively educate the BIPOC community about resources, professional development, and training," referencing people who are Black, Indigenous or People of Color. The city has already launched a COVID-19 neighborhood ambassador program, where volunteers are reaching out to neighborhoods to help connect residents in need with resources.

The task force's public safety subcommittee recommends creating a "Civilian Oversight Group," which it notes "some officers were in favor of, if created with civilians who have a degree of knowledge of policing, and members of the force."

"This is a critical step," the subcommittee reported, "to ensure that there is a system of check and balances and an opportunity for growth from both the police and the community as a whole."

Driscoll said leaders "definitely know there's police reform happening in the state right now, tied to the state, that'll entail a lot more reporting and transparency."

"You're going to see, certainly, steps taken forward relative to improving policing and making it more transparent, and these commission recommendations will be taken up," she said. "When we have a diversity, equity and inclusion position on-board, it'll also help us with understanding priorities and pacing this work so we can move forward expeditiously and smartly."

The report also listed more than 30 incidents in 2020, 21 of them citizen complaints, which required administrative review within the Salem Police Department. Eighteen incidents on the list — including two instances of "conduct unbecoming etc." on June 1, two cases of prohibited conduct from June 16 and 22, and a case of incompetence reported on Nov. 23 — were "substantiated" in their findings.

The Salem News has filed a records request to obtain documents pertaining to the incidents.

Interviews shed light on perceptions

Nearly a dozen pages of the initial version of the report documented anonymous conversations with police officers, including direct quotes. Responses covered why they became officers, how the past year of attention on police brutality has impacted their work, and other issues that would only be known by police serving today.

Two comments from an unknown number of officers of color — asked how non-Caucasian officers are treated by their Caucasian counterparts — addressed instead how they experience racism in unexpected places.

"When I was part of the Black Picnic event, Black people painted me as if I didn't work with them, favored white people," one officer of color said. "When you go to white people's families or neighborhoods, it's different."

Another officer said they are Asian, but because they don't look Asian or have a name from another cultural identity, "I've never been seen as part of the Asian community."

White officers, meanwhile, told task force members "that they do not divulge their profession when in social circumstances. Furthermore, they acknowledged that their job has been made meaningfully more difficult by the events of the past year."

"One officer remarked, 'there is never anything to worry about if you follow policy and procedure,'" the draft report reads. "In response to that, we asked if all felt similarly to that statement, most of the officers indicated that they did not feel similarly and had concerns for their jobs if an incident occurred or was alleged even if they followed proper protocol."

One officer, later identified as a member of the LGBTQ community, said they participated in interviews because "I wanted to help here today in any way I can." They were asked if the "reality of being a police officer differed from your perspective prior to joining the force."

"At first it's a happy and exciting time," the officer said. "Over time the realities of the job begin to set in. Things happen. The vibes from the news are dramatic."

Then, asked how Salem police could change their policies and procedures to the benefit of the LGBTQ community, the officer said harassment policy didn't go through the city's Human Resources department, and that recruitment is down with only seven women on the entire force.

"Base pay is low and officers depend on getting details to enhance their income," the officer said, adding that although everyone can sign up for them, "details tend to be filled by officers with seniority first."

Contact Dustin Luca at 978-338-2523 or DLuca@salemnews.com. Follow him at facebook.com/dustinluca or on Twitter @DustinLucaSN.