Cops converse with community about policing in Placer County
Since 2015, the Racial Healing Project, an initiative of local non-profit organization, Global Marketplace, has hosted community conversations on topics ranging from race to addressing housing concerns for people experiencing homelessness.
Lieutenant officers Luke Sincerny from the Rocklin Police Department and Jeff Kool from the Roseville Police Department answer questions after the conversation from audience members.
Rocklin Parks and Recreation Office Building’s Senior Activity Room is small but the Racial Healing Project’s monthly Community Conversation is anything but.
The conversation on Mar. 8 featured police lieutenants from the Roseville and Rocklin police departments, a longtime Roseville resident and a psychology consultant, and the Placer District Chair of the United Domestic Workers of America Union as panelists. The panelists shared stories and the community members pitched questions as the room discussed compared and contrasted the evolution of policing in Placer County to both local and national reform movements.
These community conversations and the non-profit organization that hosts them have deep roots in the community.
“(The Community Conversations on Race) is what the focus is of the organization right now, to draw more people together to understand where racism comes from, how it’s propagated, what the historical context is, and to really understand our own feelings about race,” J. Merrill said. “The goal of the conversations is to help people be able to talk civilly and emotionally and from the heart. Listening is the most important thing rather than always opening our mouth.”
Merrill, who plans, moderates, and asks questions at Community Conversations, typically choose conversation topics based on her interests and community input. Determining the topic of this conversation took Merrill back to 2020-specifically the summer of 2020-when the conversation on George Floyd’s killing by a then-Minneapolis officer, ignited national community conversations.
“It was a wake-up call, that we need to understand what policing means in our country. And what do we want police officers to do? Because they are working for the public. And so I think we want to understand their background, their needs as employees of the police department.” J. Merill said. “But we also need to help them understand that the way some police departments are operating is no longer appropriate. And then some of it is based on our history of enslaved people.”
Lieutenant police officer and panelist Luke Sincerny said conversation surrounding police involvement in deaths like George Floyd’s and former Sacramento native Tyre Nichols has amplified community calls for police reform. These cries have centered around the police department’s accountability and accessibility.
“Generally what you didn’t see five years ago-I’m going to call pre George Floyd-you didn’t see other agencies weighing in on what happens at another agency. (When) George Floyd occurred..you had other agencies, other chiefs of police starting to message that ‘hey, that was totally unacceptable and they should be held accountable.’” Sincerny said. “Even out in California you saw a response from Chiefs of Police, we’re talking about something that happened 3000 miles away (referring to the Jan. 2023 killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis). It is up to the individual agency if they’re going to weigh in on that.”
Sincerny and fellow panelist, lieutenant police officer Jeff Kool, are from the Rocklin and Roseville Police Departments respectively. Both have administrative roles. Sincerny, as a leader in Roseville PD’s Professional Standards Unit and the Internal Affairs department, is responsible for hiring and supervising conduct complaints.
Reform is interdisciplinary. Part of these changes starts in the classroom. Others are implemented in the daily and administrative conversations Sincerny and Kool have as department leaders.
Generally, Sincerny shared police culture is opening its external and internal communication. Sincerny quoted Sir Robert Peel, known for initiating the Metropolitan Police in England during the panel discussion. “The police are the public and the public are the police.”
On a statewide level, Kool highlighted legislation like Assembly Bill 392, as part of accountability reform. The bill redefined standards for the justifiable use of force among peace officers.
Locally, Sincerny highlighted ride-alongs like panelist Susie Philipp participated in, the Police Athletic League’s youth focus, and modernizing technology. The Rocklin Police Department has adopted body cameras and software like Blue Team has increased in popularity.
“(Blue Team organizes) all the evidence that’s associated with a use of force…a police pursuit, or a complaint. We have a threshold set. So if something happens, where it hits a threshold, our professional standards unit gets an alert and the supervisor gets an alert and we evaluate if there’s an issue there.” Kool said at the panel.
Localized nationwide reform movements extend to internal communication, particularly increasing officer mental health awareness.
Statistics of suicide among police officers, Sincerny and Kool shared, are higher than officer homicides.
Aside from the nature of the job, Sincerny said rapid reform and societal pressures contribute to strains of officer mental health.
“I will be very upfront,” Sincerny said. “There’s a lot of communities that don’t want to be lumped in with some of the people that do bad things in their communities, and I think the police are just the same…I don’t want to be looked at the same as somebody that did something horrific…I understand that by association, people will feel that way, but I apply that to everybody. The act of one doesn’t necessarily reflect the act of all. How many really great things occur on a daily basis that the police do that we don’t hear about in the media? You kind of have a nation right now that is hyper-focused on some of the very bad things that have happened.”
Fellow panelist William Reed sent murmurs through the room when he said he thought what happened to Tyre Nichols 3000 miles away could happen in Placer County.
“ If a person came up to one of our police officers, and spit in their face, and punch them, or try to take their weapons, how would they treat that situation? And we say with all the training and everything else, it may have a successful outcome. But we do not know how we will or would react in certain situations.”
Reed is a psychologist, president of the Sacramento Labor Council, and United Domestic Worker Association Secretary-Treasurer. Reed said he prioritized audience understanding of the value of policing and enacting change.
Reed said both expectations and attitudes towards policing vary regionally-even from South Sacramento to Loomis.
“When the police will look at you in Loomis, they will look at you as a member of the community and we look at them as someone who is going to protect and serve,” Reed said. “When the police will look at you in South Sac, it’s like we’re here to incarcerate you. In other words, in Loomis, you’re innocent until proven guilty. In South Sac, you’re guilty until proven innocent.”
Reform aside, Sincerny and Kool emphasized every police culture is different.
Sincerny, who has been with the Rockin Police Department for the past seven years, compared this experience to the 22 years he spent with the Oakland Police Department. The Oakland Police Department’s history of officer misconduct and other controversies is still recovering from over two decades of federal oversight.
Many of the Mar. 8 event panelists had been introduced to the community conversation series or the overarching Racial Healing Project prior. Roseville police lieutenant Jeff Kool met fellow panelist and 32-year resident Susie Philipp at a previous City of Roseville conversation. Philipp and fellow panelist Dr. William Reed further served as Facilitators in the 2018 conversations.
Philipp spoke first about her experience on a ride along with Kool.
Philipp is a Black, former military spouse who has lived in both predominantly Black and white communities. When she first came to Roseville, the population numbered 47,000. Today the population is over three times that amount.
“In the 32 years I’ve lived in Roseville, I have never had an encounter with the police in any way, shape, or form unless it was positive,” Philipp said. “I do have a son who lives here in Roseville and as Black males, they tend to have more of an issue with the police than women do, and in talking to my son he hasn’t had any issues either. That’s not to say there aren’t issues happening, I just haven’t experienced them.”
As Placer County’s demographics diversify, so have the audiences of these community conversations.
“It really was an educational series where people who knew very little, who may have grown up in a mostly white neighborhood and may have not experienced people of color, could talk with people of color in the meetings and see that there are a lot of similarities.” J. Merrill said. “So now, I think now we’re getting kind of a younger group and more diverse to some of these monthly meetings.”
Fellow community members shared concerns about accessibility and accountability in police culture and interactions. Community members highlighted changing relationships, particularly between the police and the LGBTQ+ and Black community, touching on trust and tensions between the two parties historically.
“There was more capacity for others to show up…how do we get others in the room?” Twiana Armstrong said. “What may be the reason why some did not show up? Based on conversations that I’ve had with those who live in the area, there could be a lack of trust.”
Armstrong was one of the community members who spoke at the conversation. In an interview with the Gazette, she elaborated on her comments about building trust, especially amongst the police and Black male youth.
“In the work that I do with the students with the African American and the Black students, there is this feeling that maybe they’re not always heard, maybe that they’re not always listened to, that their voice is not always front and center in the room lack maturity. They may not have the language to articulate what they’re feeling,” Armstrong said. “I think there’s an opportunity to open up those conversations when it comes down to our Black and African American students, specifically with our Black males.”
Armstrong serves as the executive director and founder of her non-profit SeeMyChild, organizes and leads community events including the Placer County MLK March and the Juneteenth Celebrations, and is also Community Advisor to local BSU chapters, including GBHS’ chapter. Several officials and officers, including panelist Lieutenant Luke Sincerny, also attended the Placer MLK March and other events Armstrong organized.
Armstrong, alongside other audience members, praised the Roseville and Rocklin police chiefs for prioritizing clear communication with marginalized communities and the community for their receptiveness to the conversation.
The following community conversation was held on Apr. 12th, focusing on “Homelessness and Affordable Housing Options in Placer County.” Roseville Police Department Chief Troy Bergstrom was among the event’s four panelists.
Sarah is a senior and Co-Editor-in-Chief. This is her fourth year on the Gazette staff.
