DENVER — Denver’s Taskforce to Reimagine Policing and Public Safety and the nonprofit Women Uprising will hold a forum Tuesday night to discuss community-based solutions to policing and public safety problems in Denver.
“We're having a large community meeting tonight in response to the community not having input into the appointee process for the public safety officials. These are some of the most important jobs — so police chief, fire chief, sheriff — and yet, there's almost no information about how these appointees will be reappointed or selected,” said Dr. Lisa Calderón, executive director of Women Uprising.
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Calderón, who will be a panelist for the forum, said during the community will also discuss the Office of Neighborhood Safety.
“I chaired Mayor Johnston's transition team on the Office of Neighborhood Safety. We had three community meetings, overwhelming support, and yet not a dime in the mayor's budget. This office is for alternatives to policing so that we can look at best practices for de-escalation, we could look at grants for what is working in neighborhoods. And yet, this office that came out of the Reimagining Policing Task Force has gotten really no support yet under this administration,” Calderón said.
Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis will also help lead the discussion and said funding for police alternatives will be a part of the conversation.
“Our safety budget, it's about one-third of the overall budget for the city. And so when we talk about funding, the dollars are there. We just have to have the political will to be able to do it,” Lewis said. “I think what we're seeing from [Denver Police Department], from sheriffs, even from our fire department, is that there's an opportunity for us to do a better job of serving our communities when it comes to the safety.”
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Lewis and Calderón said it’s time to let the community lead the way to solutions.
The forum will be held at Shorter AME Church in Denver at 6 p.m.
