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From YouTube: Philadelphia Police Commissioner Ross on Law Enforcement Relations with Philly Communities 8-1-2016
Description
Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross testifies before the Philadelphia City Council Special Committee on Criminal Justice Reform about law enforcement relationships with communities and other local efforts to reform the criminal justice system.
View the full hearing here: https://youtu.be/J0TCNzSzu8A
http://phlcouncil.com/CriminalJusticeReform
A
Having
me
here
today,
we
are
doing
a
number
of
things
to
move
this
effort
along
in
the
way
of
criminal
justice
reform
and
I'll
highlight
as
many
as
I
can,
but
they
they're
not
all-encompassing
and
I
will
just
say
that
upfront,
the
the
biggest
one
that
you
know
about
is
collaborative
reform,
which
you
know
started
under
my
predecessor,
my
mentor
and
my
friend
Charles
Ramsey,
where
you
know
the
Justice
Department
was
bored
and
to
look
at
many
of
our
policies.
While
he
was
here,
we
had
gotten
I,
guess
the
third
of
them
completed.
A
We
are
continued
to
move
that
forward.
We've
got
we
had
that
collaborative
reform
group
CNA
come
in
about
two
weeks
ago.
They
were
very
happy
with
the
progress
that
we're
making
so
far,
so
we're
being
proactive
in
our
efforts
to
improve
our
interactions
with
community
on
a
number
of
issues,
not
the
least
of
which
is
police
involved,
shootings
and
many
other
things
and
endeavors
that
we
have
so
we're
very
happy
about
that.
We
still
got
some
work
to
do
as
many
of
the
91
recommendations
are
have
several
components
to
them.
A
So
it's
not
just
91.
As
you
know,
there
are
many
many
involved,
but
we're
very
happy
about
that.
We've
also
undertaken
an
endeavor
last
year
with
bias-based
police
training
with
dr.
laurie
fidel,
where,
basically,
we
all
know
we
have
implicit
biases.
I
don't
care
who
you
are.
What
color
you
are
what
gender
you
are.
You
have
implicit
biases
and
it's
just
a
matter
of
getting
in
tune
with
those
getting
in
touch
with
those
understanding.
What
motivates
you
understanding?
What
motivates
your
thinking
and
incorporating
that
that
whole
line
of
thought
within
policing
in
training?
A
A
The
the
one
that
we're
probably
most
proud
of
is
one
that
councilman.
It
was
started
by
the
gentleman
seated
to
your
left,
Kevin
Bethel,
and
that
when
he
came
on
with
this
this
whole
issue
of
diversion
it
has
impacted
the
city
in
the
department
immensely
in
a
positive
way.
In
that
you
know,
we
are
taking
probably
50
to
60%
fewer
kids
in
custody,
particularly
from
school
related
issues.
A
So
we
are
very
very
proud
of
that.
We
continue
the
work
that
he
started,
because
it
is
really
yielded
significant,
inroads
and
and
move
the
the
ball
for
for
us.
We,
as
I,
said
before.
We
don't
want
to
put
kids
in
the
system
unnecessarily,
so
that's
something
that
we're
just
so
very
happy
of.
As
you
know,
we're
also
very
intentional
about
the
many
community
groups
that
we
deal
with
across
the
city.
We
have
deputies,
for
example,
is
important
enough
to
have
deputy
commissioners
assigned
to
different
interest
groups.
We
have
one
who's
assigned
an
Asian
community.
A
We
have
one
who
will
myself
actually
now
I
kept
the
police
chaplain
program
and-
and
there
are
others
that
we
deal
with
across
the
city-
it's
just
so
important
for
us
to
make
these
connections
to
establish
to
these
groups
how
important
it
is
for
us
to
cultivate
relationships
across
the
city,
we've
even
him
and
I'm
a
meeting
deputy
of
Bethel
or
Kevin
Bethel.
We
established
a
young
millennial
group
last
year.
A
Members
of
societies,
they
might
be,
do
other
things
doing
other
things,
but
we
have
to
be
intentional
about
connecting
with
them
in
order
to
really
do
what
we're
all
trying
to
do,
because
it
can't
just
be
about
police
community
relations
as
it
relates
to
people
in
their
40s,
50s,
60s
and
70s
I
mean
we
have
to
have
people
who
are
younger
and
that's
what's
critical
and
so
we're
working
very
hard
to
deal
with
that.
We
have
somebody
who
also
deals
with
the
LGBTQ
community,
because
you
know
I.
A
We
have
gotten
to
the
point
where,
in
police,
community
relations,
we
say
community
and
that
seems
to
be
synonymous
with
color,
and
so
the
reality
of
it
is
is
even
within
the
scope
of
communities
of
color
there's
more
than
one
within
Philadelphia,
and
so
not
every
community
feels
the
same
way
about
police.
Not
every
district
feels
the
same
way,
and
so
you
got
to
be
aware
of
all
those
things,
those
communities
with
an
S
and
not
be
so
drawn
into
saying.
A
The
community
feels
this
way
of
the
community
feels
that
way,
because
that's
not
a
fair
assessment
of
how
anyone
feels
we
can't
make
those
assumptions
explorers
program
again.
You
know
we
decentralized
that,
and
that
is
helping
us
I
mean
it
was
already
a
very
diverse
program,
but
obviously
from
a
logistical
standpoint,
it
was
difficult
for
young
kids
to
get
all
the
way
to
the
Northeast
and
is
probably
even
more
difficult
now
so
having
it
out
in
the
districts
in
the
divisions,
we're
getting
some
significant
participation
in
that.
A
Obviously,
some
districts
are
better
than
others,
but
these
are
things
that
are
helping
us,
making
those
connections
with
people
opening
up
more
Powell,
centers.
You've
all
heard
those
Powell
testimonials
from
some
of
those
Powell
kids
phenomenal
and
what
they've
done
and
it
doesn't
matter
what
the
race
that
a
police
officer
is
I
mean
when
you
hear
these
kids
talk
about
the
impact
these
Powell
officers
have
on
them.
A
You
know
we
have
black
officers,
white
officers,
males
females
who
are
getting
out,
they're,
really
being
intentional,
about
trying
to
connect
with
communities
who
really
understand
what
that's
all
about
and
trying
to
make
sure
that
even
our
police
officers
in
this
climate
recognize
that,
just
because
an
individual
group
or
an
individual
takes
issue
with
a
police
action
across
this
nation
or
here
doesn't
necessarily
mean
they're
indicted
the
entire
profession.
And
so
we
even
have
to
be
careful
not
to
succumb
to
that.
A
A
You
may
have
heard
me
say
that
some
of
those
protesters
were
in
and
out
of
our
custody
so
quickly
their
heads
were
spinning.
They
didn't
even
realize
what
was
happening.
You
know
they
were
written,
a
citation
given
the
bottled
water
and
say
you
know,
have
a
nice
day,
and
so
they
were
really
pleasantly
surprised
about
that,
and
so
we're
also
trying
to
make
sure
that
we
continue
that
effort
as
it
relates
to
you
know
disparate
treatment
in
the
criminal
justice
system.
A
But
it's
just
all
those
things
dovetail
into
one
another
and
making
sure
that
everybody
understands.
Look.
I'm
very
pragmatic,
I
understand
that,
even
within
the
rank
and
file
there's
some
people,
you
got
to
kind
of
drag
along
a
little
bit
and
they
may
not
quite
get
it
at
first,
but
I
think
when
they
understand
that
there's
a
benefit
to
them
and
that
there's
no
benefit
than
just
putting
a
bunch
of
people
in
the
system.
Us
unnecessarily
then
I
think
we'll
move
this
ball
forward.
A
The
other
thing
that
has
happened
and
that
it's
taken
been
under
a
lot
of
scrutiny,
has
been
the
reduction
or
the
removal
of
the
60
credits,
and
let
me
say
this
to
you
there.
There
are
a
lot
of
pundits
out
there
who
would
suggest
that
now,
the
worst
thing
in
the
world
has
happened.
A
lot
of
folks
have
boned
the
notion
that
you
know
cultural
awareness
and
a
whole
bunch
of
other
things
will
go
by
the
wayside.
A
The
first
thing
that
I
say
that
that
is,
if
you
want
to
be
culturally
aware,
you
have
to
be
intentional
about
being
culturally
aware
if
you
just
decide
just
because
you
have
a
PhD
or
you
think,
because
you
have
a
PhD
you're
going
to
automatically
be
culturally
aware,
you're
naive.
If
you're
interested
in
getting
to
know
another
culture,
then
you
have
to
be
intentional
about
learning
that
culture,
so
60
credits
does
not
necessarily
get
that
in
addition
to
which
I
think
there
are
people
who
did
not
understand
that.
A
Just
because
we
had
that
60
credit
requirement
didn't
mean
that
everybody
who
came
in
has
60
credits.
You
had
people
coming
in
with
the
military.
You
have
people
come
in
through
the
Explorers,
so
two-thirds
of
the
people
who
were
coming
and
probably
didn't
even
have
the
60
credits,
but
let
me
just
clear
that
up
in
addition
to
which
I
don't
have
the
luxury,
like
some
of
the
experts
and
the
pundits
of
talking
about
this
as
they
can
sit
on
the
sidelines
and
talk
about
60
credits,
while
my
department
is
shrinking
and
we're
losing
diversity.
A
Now,
let
me
elaborate
on
that
a
little
bit
for
me,
it's
more
about
even
inclusion,
it's
more
about
who
I'm
not
getting
then
who
I
am
getting
I,
don't
take
any
issue
with
having
a
number
of
Caucasian
officers.
I
got
some
of
the
best
cops
I
got
and
the
biggest
hearts
that
I
got
come
from
some
of
these
white
males
and
whatever
so
to
make
that
indictment.
I
don't
allow
that
to
happen,
but
what
I
am
losing
I'm
losing
females
I'm
losing
young
black
men
I'm
using
losing
people
who
reflect
the
demographic
of
the
city?
A
So
when
people
sit
on
the
sidelines
and
they
talk
about-
why
couldn't
you
do
this?
Why
couldn't
you
do
that?
All
those
things
we've
tried
ten
times
over
and
meanwhile
our
department
still
isn't
growing
it.
Meanwhile,
the
demographics
are
going
in
the
wrong
way,
and
so
we
need
to
be
very
careful
that
we
see
what
the
bigger
picture
is.
You
are
seated
again
I
reference
him
again.
The
guy
sitting.
A
Next
to
you
has
a
master's
degree
he's
going
to
a
number
of
programs
and,
under
that
60
credit
requirement
would
not
have
been
in
his
Police
Department.
You
have
never
have
been
here.
Okay,
just
like
my
captain
in
the
18th
district
who's,
a
single
mother
who
now
also
has
a
master's
degree
degree.
She
came
on
this
job
with
no
credits,
but
she
got
educated
like
many
of
the
police
officers.
Do
both
of
them
have
tremendous
hearts.
A
They're,
hardworking
people,
just
like
many
of
the
police
officers,
are
not
the
least
of
which
we
cannot
forget
that
this
is
a
city
that
has
one
of
the
highest
poverty
rates
of
the
top
ten
cities
in
the
country
and
police
fire
prisons
and
a
few
others
are
a
gateway
to
the
middle
class,
and
so
why
should
we
lose
sight
of
that?
It's
to
me
it's
ludicrous
that
people
would
take
their
own
residents
and
decide
to
exclude
them
for
the
sake
of
some
arbitrary
requirement.
A
I
mean
I'm,
a
proponent
of
education,
so
anyone
who
thinks
that
is
mistaken,
but
also
I'm,
a
proponent
of
public
safety
and
providing
a
level
of
service
to
the
people
who
live,
work
and
visit
here
that
they
deserve
and
I
cannot
afford
to
sit
back
and
debate
it
because
it
sounds
good
to
people
for
whatever
reason
they
think
it
sounds
good.
So,
in
a
nutshell,
we
will
continue
to
be
progressive
in
this
Police
Department.
A
We
will
continue
to
move
the
ball
forward
with
regard
to
establishing
and
cultivating
relationships
with
communities,
ones
that
we
already
have
good
relationships
with.
We
will
continue
to
do
that
in
ones
where
we
struggle
and
we
acknowledge
that
we
struggle
it
juggling
them.
We
will
continue
to
move
that
ball
for
because
you
will
not
get
this
done
by
yourself.
That's
just
the
bottom
line,
whether
it's
police
community
relations,
whether
it
deals
with
crime
and
communities,
the
only
way
you'll
find
a
modicum
of
success
or
success
in
general,
is
if
you
collaborate
and
work
together.