Want to advise Turlock police? Department seeks diverse applicants for community board
The Turlock Police Department is accepting applications for an advisory board designed to build community trust and bring diverse perspectives.
Recently retired Chief Nino Amirfar first announced plans to create the board in June, following public comments and emails requesting reforms after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
To qualify for the board, a volunteer must be a Turlock business owner, representative of the Black or Latino community, or a leader of one of the following: a nonprofit group, spiritual group, the school district, or Stanislaus State, according to the application posted online Wednesday. Members of the Community Advisory Board to the Chief of Police will review and give recommendations on crime trends, department policies, personnel complaints and similar issues.
Jaimee Ellison, co-founder of Turlock Black Lives Matter Movement, which aims to call attention to systemic racism, described the application process, which is open through Nov. 20, as exciting. The board can help unify the city of loving people, Ellison said, adding she plans to apply.
“There is a small number of African-American members of the community but we still deserve to be represented,” Ellison said in a text to The Bee. “I hope Latinos from all backgrounds apply because we have such a diverse Hispanic population here in town.”
Interim Turlock Police Chief Miguel Pacheco will review the applications with Capt. Steve Williams, department spokesman Sgt. Michael Parmley said in an email. Pacheco is scheduled to serve as interim chief through the end of January, then Williams will take over for the next four months. The City Council froze police chief funding in the 2020-21 budget, so it does not plan to hire a permanent department head this fiscal year.
With Amirfar’s retirement and the loss of his advocacy for youth protection, Director of Westside Ministries JoLynn DiGrazia said the board is especially significant. A grandmother of two Black teenagers, DiGrazia said racial profiling happens unconsciously and she worries about their safety whenever they walk by themselves on the west side to buy a soda.
About three years ago, DiGrazia said she believes Turlock police pulled over her daughter because a stolen car looked like hers and her Black sons sat in the back. At the same time, she also praised how Amirfar quickly banned the carotid control hold, which a Minneapolis officer used on Floyd.
“I have full confidence in Turlock PD that we are going to go forward and we are going to address what needs to be addressed,” DiGrazia said. “I believe that the men and women there have the depth of character and they are able to listen. I just hope we are able to get the right people for them to listen to.”
Members of the board should want to both improve the Police Department and increase safety for people of color, she said, as well as understand that the desires are not mutually exclusive.
The board’s recommendations or comments would not be “binding on the Chief of Police or the City of Turlock.”
Business owners are one group that can bring firsthand knowledge, said Molly Amant, executive director of the Downtown Turlock Property Owners Association. Downtown businesses in particular can share their observations on homelessness, vagrancy and vandalism issues, Amant said, such as homeless individuals digging in and eating food out of trash cans in front of restaurants. The advisory board can also build on Amirfar’s efforts to explain how businesses can best communicate with police, she said.
“It’s just super important for the Police Department to be connected to the business district because they see everything that happens in that specific area on the daily,” Amant said.
Applicants must also pass a background check, be 21 or older and be interviewed by the chief. Board members are expected to serve at least two years, and no compensation is planned.
Nine or 11 members will be selected, Amirfar said at the last council meeting, and the first advisory board meeting will likely occur in January. Applications are available on the Turlock Police Department website.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
