THE ARROGANCE, THE IGNORANCE, AND A POWERFUL ANSWER

If you are a member of the Facebook group: You Know You Want to Talk About Watertown, MA Politics and Hot Topics, you have probably seen the brief clip from an April Zoom meeting, where police reform was the major topic of discussion. For ease of reference, I will call it the “Louise clip.” If you are not a member of the group, you can ask to join or you can read the transcript of the clip below.

Here’s the background:

A member of one of the groups participating in the meeting asked a lengthy question, laced with assumptions, about police training. That question might be summed up as: Why is police training so bad and what can be done about it?

Louise, a member of the self-appointed police reform group, volunteered to answer the question. Here is what Louise had to say:

“What we’re dealing with is an institution in our society that is a closed entity, that does not want to be told what to do, that is defensive generally, that’s why there’s not much oversight of police, and that’s what people are clamoring for right now. Unfortunately it’s not just a matter of training. It’s a matter of who these people are, how they grew up, how they were hired…you know there’s many people who go into policing and I do believe some of them are decent people but hiring practices don’t do personality assessment tests…I should probably stop speaking because I’ll say something that will put my foot in my mouth.”

If you’ve watched the clip, you probably had a strong reaction, to say the least. The Louise clip received a lot of comments. My assessment from the tone of the comments is that the general response was overwhelming outrage.

I was not as outraged as some commenters, because after forcing myself to watch and listen, multiple times, to the self-anointed police reformers’ comments at three very long Public Safety Committee meetings, beginning in March, my threshold for outrage is extremely high.

Here are my takeaways from the Louise clip:

First, these sentiments are not unique to Louise. They have been expressed multiple times, by arrogant, “enlightened” people, in public (and no doubt in private) meetings that have taken place, at least since March.

Second, the “people” who are “clamoring” for oversight are only the people in her gang. Does Louise really believe that people outside of her political bubble share her views on the police? And does she even care?

Third, It is unmistakable that Louise sees the alleged police problem as one of social class. She is suspicious of cops because she doesn’t know any, and the reason she doesn’t know any is because they must have grown up on other side of the tracks. God only knows how their parents might have raised them in those hillbilly neighborhoods.

If next Tuesday, the voters send a progressive majority to the town council, Louise & Company will likely get their wish to establish a police advisory committee, or even a police oversight committee − which should be easy to accomplish once the Louise & Company majority select their choice of a new town manager.

If the voters also pass the charter amendments (Question 2 on the ballot), members of her gang will also become prominent participants in the newly established Human Rights Commission − long overdue considering Watertown’s infamous record of stomping on human rights.

We all understand that the election has become a referendum on Chief Lawn and the WPD. Both sides have chosen their slate of candidates. By now, every registered voter has seen those slates. Right?

Wrong!

Right now there are voters who will show up at the polls barely knowing who they will vote for. Every year that I’ve held a campaign sign, someone has approached me and asked why they should vote for that candidate. Then they would ask me what other candidates I supported and why I supported them. Days before every local election, my wife gets phone calls asking for direction on how to vote.

Uninformed voters who have paid little or no attention to the candidates and issues, but believe it to be their civic duty to vote, will show up and vote based on a candidate’s appearance, the impression made by the candidate’s lawn signs, or the recommendations provided by a friend, neighbor, or even by a stranger holding a sign.

The balance of this election might hang on a very small number of votes.

So, how do you make the fastest, deepest impression on uninformed voters who look to you to make their voting experience more than a guessing game? In my experience, simple logic is often not enough. It’s best to go right for the heart.

So, here’s an idea. First you read them Louise’s quote, placing emphasis in all the right places.

Then you read them a speech − not your speech, but the eloquent speech, delivered at the May Public Safety Committee meeting, by a Watertown cop, who stood up and confronted the rampant arrogance and ignorance in the virtual room.

Here is my transcript of her speech:

(My underlining specifically addresses  Louise & Company)

“Hi, my name is Kerilyn Amedio, a resident of Watertown and proudly a member of the Watertown Police Department. I’ve been on the Police Department for seven years, and I’m currently assigned to the detective division. I hold a bachelors’ degree in criminal justice and sociology from the University of Massachusetts and am a graduate of the Massachusetts State Police Academy.

I have extensive training given to me by the Watertown Police Department notably to include crisis intervention, assisting individuals in crisis, group crisis intervention, and critical incident stress management.

I can only speak for myself and my own experiences but many if not all of my fellow brother and sister officers would agree with my following statement. In seven years, I’ve stopped cars, made arrests, when necessary, responded to calls for domestic violence, larcenies, shoplifters, sexual assaults, neighborhood complaints, barking dogs, alarm calls, medical calls, overdoses and that is just to name a few. I’ve been punched in the face, spit on, kicked, bitten, had my hair pulled, had a knife pulled on me, had cars almost strike me, feared for my safety, and been called every name in the book. I’ve held strangers, hugged children that are not mine, saved lives through the distribution of Narcan and performance of CPR. I’ve promised someone that I care and would continue to care and would help them. I’ve told families that their loved ones were not coming home.

I’ve seen unimaginable despair, empathized and sympathized with people from all walks of life. And with all of that I would not change one single day of this career.

You are all speaking of accountability and transparency and we want that too. Not only just for the Watertown Police Department but for all facets of Watertown and we want it from these groups as well. We are willing to have open honest dialogue. We want you to be heard, but we won’t allow it to be at the expense of our character or what you or the media believe what this job is.

I welcome you to come share a day or multiple days at the Watertown Police Department. Come see it from my perspective or from the perspective of another officer. Come volunteer with us. Come do a ride along. Come participate in all of our community policing efforts. Experience Watertown Police for what it is. Not for what you think it is or what you’ve heard it is. We are more than arrests and statistics. The people we deal with are more than arrests, numbers, and statistics. We want the conversation to continue, but we refuse to be called uneducated, white supremacists, or say that we come from bad families.

I love this job and I love this town. I will continue to show up, be held accountable and I will continue to do what is right, just, and fair, because that is what Chief Lawn and the Watertown Police Department have trained me to do. And that is what the community of Watertown has trusted me to do. Thank you for your time and please reach out to me to continue these conversations."

And that is how you go right for the heart!

Once there, it’s a straight shot to an open mind.