Private listening session frustrates some

Private listening session frustrates some
 
By Isabella Alves
Wyoming Tribune Eagle
Via Wyoming News Exchange
 
CHEYENNE - A Saturday listening session for citizens - especially people of color - to voice concerns about the Cheyenne Police Department was initially not what people expected.
The session, hosted by City Councilmen Scott Roybal and Ken Esquibel, had people wait in one room and step back into another room privately with council members to voice their concerns. The event ran from 10 a.m. to noon at the Kiwanis Community House in Lions Park.
Some people expressed their frustration that this wasn't what they were expecting because they thought it would be an open forum.
Elected officials, including Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Manlove, state Rep. Sara Burlingame, Councilman Pete Laybourn, City Council President Mark Rinne and former state lawmaker James Byrd were also present at the session.
"There are people who work in state government agencies and federal agencies who are prohibited from participation, and events that could be politicized," Byrd said. "This is what facilitates conversation like this. They don't get the time to come in and find us individually, at the council chambers, or me, we give them this opportunity. We're all going to be in one spot, let's have a conversation."
After finding out that people would be sharing their stories privately, some community members decided to leave the session.
"This particular forum was announced as a listening session, and we had anticipated, as you can see from the setup of the chairs, to be able to have everyone in an individual group," Rosa Salamanca of the U.S. Department of Justice announced to the group. "Unfortunately, what happened instead is there are some fears of retaliation."
Byrd said during the private listening sessions, people were talking about individuals specifically and other details people can't talk about in a public forum.
Paulette Gadlin decided to leave the session after she found out the session would be private. She said she's a community member who came to listen to the concerns of the community.
She's thinking of running for the school board, and thought it was important to hear what the community had to say. She said since the forum was closed, she doesn't think it will have the same effect.
"When you're speaking the truth about something, it's nothing that should be, or has to be, private," she said. "Because individuals could have set up a private meeting with the councilmen themselves."
In order for the community to move forward, she said more events like these are needed. She said she thought the forum was a wonderful idea, and hopes that maybe this could occur again in a different format.
After there was a disturbance at the session, in which a Cheyenne Police Department officer had to be called, session leaders decided to open up the forum to let those who wanted to share their stories publicly do so.
Concerned community member Nadra Williamson shared her experience with police and the criminal justice system in the open portion of the session.
She said when she was arrested, she had to pay multiple fines, but then ultimately her case got dismissed. She went to the police department to see if she could get her money back from the fines, but was told she couldn't because she was a suspect in a crime - despite her case dismissal.
Williamson said racism is alive and well in Cheyenne. She said people like to claim that it doesn't happen here, and they don't see it happening here, but as a black person, she said she sees it.
Lona Garcia shared her experience of when she woke up to flash grenades going off in her home from multiple law enforcement agencies, including Cheyenne Police, and to this day she doesn't know why.
Her children were home at the time of the incident, and they still have nightmares about it. She said her children now have a lot of anxiety surrounding people in law enforcement.
"They threw flash grenades, they tased my dogs, they broke my doors - they came like they came for El Chapo," Garcia said. "When I say they had tanks at my home - they had tanks at my home."
They wouldn't give her a warrant, or tell her why they were there, she said. Nothing has ever come of it, and criminal charges were never filed.
She went to Cheyenne Police to try to figure out what was going on and why law enforcement raided her home. She said she still hasn't gotten answers.
"I don't believe necessarily that it is your color, I think it is the abuse of authority," Garcia said. "I think it is the power and the powerless ... the fact that a lot of us don't have the means to go fight in court. I don't have the means for that."
Another community member shared her experience in which a police officer was blocking traffic on 18th Street and the community member asked the officer to please stop blocking traffic. The officer's patrol vehicle was causing people to have to try to drive around them in the middle of the street.
After the citizen's request, the officer called four other officers to arrest her. She said she requested the videos from the incident, but found out the officers turned off the audio and video for the two minutes in which she was arrested.
She said she recalled her arresting officer asking the officer who was blocking traffic what they were arresting her for.
"So going forward, we'll get with the rest of the council, the mayor, the chief of police and look at trying to implement some of these recommendations," Esquibel said.
One thing participants and session leaders had a disagreement over was internal affairs in the department. But Esquibel said there probably needs to be some type of citizens advisory board to look into complaints and disciplinary systems, as well.
"You know, in a way, it's a sad day," he said. "But it's also a good day because we have an opportunity to make things better in this community going forward."