The Wyandotte County Task Force on Community and Police Relations will meet in a Zoom forum at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 14.
The public will be able to watch the virtual meeting on UGTV, which will be carried on cable television on Spectrum channel 2 and Google Fiber channel 141, and also on Facebook. It also is on Zoom on the internet, and access is available by phone.
The mayor’s task force on community and police relations was announced by Mayor David ALvey in early June. The task force members were appointed by Mayor Alvey on June 8. Mayor Alvey and Commissioner Harold Johnson are co-chairs of the task force.
“To create a community and culture that values the life and dignity of every person, it requires people of good will to come together in open and respectful dialogue,” Mayor Alvey said when he appointed the task force.
According to information from the Unified Government, the July 14 meeting will include a briefing by the Kansas City, Kansas, Police Department on existing community policing efforts, future use of body cameras. Also, District Attorney Mark Dupree is scheduled to make a presentation to the group.
Next will be the July 27 mayor’s task force forum, to include community member and resident comments, issues and recommendations, according to UG information.
District Attorney Mark Dupree, who has led an effort to investigate past instances of wrongful convictions in the district attorney’s office, was not appointed to the mayor’s task force, while others who lead criminal justice agencies in Wyandotte County were appointed to it. Dupree was later appointed to the Governor’s Commission on Racial Equity and Justice.
The governor’s commission has already met once.
“This is not the first time a group like this has been convened to discuss the structural inequalities that exist in our country,” Gov Laura Kelly said at the first meeting of the governor’s task force last Thursday. “But I believe this national moment has provided the Commission on Racial Equity and Justice, and the state of Kansas an opportunity to have an honest and informed conversation about the work that must be done.”
The group made introductions and set goals in the first meeting.
“We had a robust discussion in our first meeting, outlining areas for inquiry and listening sessions,” Dr. Shannon Portillo, co-chair of the governor’s task force, said. “I am looking forward to engaging with our community listening sessions, and ultimately developing a report for Governor Kelly’s administration to take action on.”
The next meeting for the governor’s commission will be at 3 p.m. July 23, and the virtual meetings are being streamed on the governor’s YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChH3fB2PkiJjZlo55c9UH2Q?view_as=subscriber. The July 9 meeting is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylmJgK8kuiU.
The details on connecting to the mayor’s task force today from 4 to 6 p.m.:
Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:
Click this URL to join: https://zoom.us/j/99736527204?pwd=enFSYmRManpIUVc2MG9TVSswTGVvUT09
Password: 396749
Or join by phone:
Dial (for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 346 248 7799 or +1 253 215 8782 or +1 669 900 9128 or +1 301 715 8592 or +1 312 626 6799 or +1 646 558 8656 or 877 853 5257 (Toll Free) or 888 475 4499 (Toll Free)
Webinar ID: 997 3652 7204
International numbers available: https://zoom.us/u/adq2aFCnTn
For more information on the mayor’s task force, visit www.Community-TaskForce.org.
An earlier story on the mayor’s task force is at https://wyandotteonline.com/task-force-on-community-and-police-relations-formed-in-kck/.