said OPPD practices procedural justice whereby officers take time to
educate the driver about what took place and why. She acknowledged the
stress individuals experience when seeing a police car behind them and
said OPPD does what they can to minimize that impact. They educate
them and allow them to voice their frustration and treat them fairly and be
transparent in what they're doing and why.
Trustee Parakkat said the presentation reinforces his belief that our
community safety and police department are in the right hands with Chief
Johnson and her team. He noted that he did not see the word
"enforcement" in the 21st century policing and wondered if that was
intentional. Chief Johnson responded that enforcement goes with crime
reduction which including community policing. If OPPD is proactive in its
approach and is present and visible, it would directly minimize crime. She
said it does not include the word enforcement but it is essentially the same
thing that OPPD is working to reduce crime.
Trustee Parakkat referenced the significant increase in overall crime from
2021 to 2022 and requested an explanation. Chief Johnson responded that
the increase takes place in warm months. She said the catalytic converter
thefts and motor vehicle thefts constitutes some of the shift but it goes back
to property crimes, with an additional 84 incidents from 2021 to 2022,
compared to 11 additional incidents of society crime. For violent offenses,
it is a one incident difference, which is consistent with the fact that we are
impacted largely with property crime and OPPD is trying to be proactive in
that area.
Trustee Parakkat said traffic issues are a recurring theme so he
appreciates putting a metric on that and training staff to focus on that.
Trustee Buchanan said that the recruitment and retention is worrisome and
sad that officers are leaving the profession, retiring early, or not joining in
the first place. She made a comparison to the field of medicine where the
remedy to making mistakes is malpractice. She said there isn't that type of
remedy with policing so we are left with people who have been harmed by
police practices. She said we all support the police department and want
the police there when there is an immediate threat to our safety.
Trustee Buchanan said she encourages a continued humility and openness
to the fact that there are people harmed and the police have a reputation of
closing ranks and protecting which creates additional harm. She said she
appreciates this possibility of a change of culture. A healthy profession
shouldn't require blind support; it requires criticism and calling out when
mistakes are made. Chief Johnson said she is constantly asked from
community members about what the police need from them and her
response to them is to hold us accountable. It takes a village to keep the
community safe.