Group demands city leaders to defund Kent Police | Photos

About 60 peaceful protesters demonstrated outside of Kent City Hall and the Police Department on Monday evening (Aug. 17) to demand city leaders to defund the police.

The group ForFortyTwo, named for the number of Kent schools, also demanded that city leaders drop the lawsuit to stop officer inquest hearing changes implemented by King County Executive Dow Constantine and invest more money in Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities as well as in youth and students.

“It was great to see our community come together and continue building people power together,” said Nica Sy, 21, a University of Washington student who grew up in Kent and graduated in 2017 from Kent-Meridian High School. “It was great to see so many young people out. Our focus is to center the voices of Black, Indigenous and people of color and young folks, so to see the audience here tonight was really exciting.”

Sy, one of the leaders of ForFortyTwo, said she decided to become involved after participating in a peaceful protest march through downtown Kent in June following the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. She also had participated in community organizing in Seattle and around the UW area, and decided she needed to bring those efforts to her hometown.

“I think it has become this norm that radical change can only happen in big cities like Seattle,” Sy said during an interview after the protest. “I think I was really motivated to be able to create that kind of change for my community in Kent.”

ForFortyTwo gathered signatures at the event in support of each of their four demands in an effort to spread its message.

“We have been active on social media, which has been effective, but this next step was to get the word out to the public about our demands and as a direct dialogue with the city,” Sy said. “We are right here in front of City Hall and the Police Department and that’s intentional because we want them to know that we are speaking to them when we say these demands. These are things we are demanding of them as our city leaders.”

Kent Mayor Dana Ralph and the Kent City Council haven’t made any proposals to defund police. On Monday, Ralph announced she had dropped any plans for a ballot measure to raise property taxes in order to hire as many as 30 more officers, increasing the force to about 195 officers from 165. Ralph said she dropped the ballot measure because she didn’t want to raise taxes during these challenging times. The police department has a $48 million budget for 2020.

“That’s good to hear, but that is not a success on the part of our demands,” Sy said. “We continue to push to defund by 50% and cutting ties between KSD (Kent School District) and KPD (Kent Police Department).”

The group wants school resource officers removed. Kent Police and the King County Sheriff’s Office each contract to provide two officers (deputies) each to the district.

“Students deserve a learning environment in which they are not being policed every second of the day,” said Baeza Lakew, a Kentlake High School senior who spoke at the protest. “They deserve a learning environment in which disciplinary action is not simply a detention or school suspension, but a positive method of solving behavioral issues to get them back on the right track.”

Lakew said she would like to see money used for mental health counselors, nurses and more support for students with disabilities.

Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla plans to bring a police equity and social justice reform resolution to the Kent City Council in September. De-escalation and duty to intervene are two policies under review. More specifics will be revealed during Padilla’s presentation to the council on either Sept. 1 or Sept. 15.

“Chief Padilla is being reactionary and not reacting to needs from the public that we have long had, but rather reacting to the attention being put on the injustice that is being done by our police departments,” Sy said. “When the (Kent Reporter) article came out (last week) about his intention to create equity and social justice reform, we know reform doesn’t work when our police departments are rooted in racism when police in America were slave patrols. We know what will help our community stay safe is by decreasing the size and scope of our police officers and instead investing into safety, thriving and feeling for our BIPOC communities.”

The protest had a minor interruption when four vehicles decorated with large American flags drove past City Hall with their horns honking to make it hard to hear the speakers. The vehicles circled around the block a few times before leaving.

“Instead of honking, I wish they would stop and listen,” one speaker said.

Throughout the evening, several Kent police officers stood back by the entrance to the police station, which was closed because it was after hours. Officers wore their regular uniforms. None wore riot gear.

Inquest hearings

ForFortyTwo members stated at the protest they want the cities of Kent, Federal Way, Renton and Auburn to drop their legal opposition to inquests of officer-involved deaths.

State law authorizes, and the King County Charter mandates, the investigation of any death involving a member of law enforcement in the course of their duties. Constantine revised the inquest hearings after residents expressed serious concerns about the inquest process in the county and the seeming lack of transparency and accountability. The suits by the cities have stopped the changes and several inquest hearings have remained on hold for a couple of years, including cases involving the Kent, Auburn and Federal Way police departments.

King County Superior Court Judge Julie Spector indicated she could make a decision in the case this week, said Kent City Attorney Pat Fitzpatrick in an email Tuesday. He said no ruling had been received yet by the city.

ForFortyTwo background

Leaders of the ForFortyTwo group include Sy and Kent residents Keliesha Lovelace, Kendrick Glover and Daniel Marin.

Lovelace and Glover helped organize the June 11 peaceful protest march through downtown Kent that drew an estimated 2,000 people following the May 25 killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. Glover is co-founder of GEM (Glover Empower Mentoring) – a community based organization that supports youth and young adults in the area. Lovelace attended Kent-Meridian High School when Glover worked there as a counselor from 2012 to 2014. Marin went to Kentridge High School, according to Facebook pages.

The group lists 225 members so far, including state Sen. Mona Das, D-Kent; Sonia Joseph, mother of Giovann Joseph-McDade, who was fatally shot by a Kent police officer at the age of 20 in June 2017 after a short vehicle pursuit; Gwen Allen-Carston, executive director of the Kent Black Action Commission; and Elizabeth Watson, a former Kent City Council member.

Denise Daniels, a Kent School Board director, withdrew her support Monday after reading the current plans of the group. She emailed the following comment to the Kent Reporter.

“I joined this group with the understanding that it was to fight against systemic racism in Washington and support our students,” Daniels said. “It was brought to my attention that my name was mentioned as a member in an article about a rally to defund the police. I do not and never have supported that cause, and have since removed myself from the group and sent a message of explanation.”

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A display at a protest rally Aug. 17 outside of the Kent Police Department shows photos of men who were fatally killed by officers. STEVE HUNTER, Kent Reporter