ca. The chief was asked to speak to the
community back in November of 2014 in a
forum hosted by the Committee for Racial
Justice titled “Issues from Ferguson –
What’s the Impact on Santa Monica?”
The central questions the forum’s
participants raised were “What about
Santa Monica? Where do we stand with
some of the issues arising from the killing
of Michael Brown in Ferguson, racial profiling, militarization of police, use of force
training, cultural competencies of our
police officers, fair representation on the
police force of people of color, etc.”
True to form and consistent with her
direct communication style, the chief addressed these questions, and many others,
as she shared general information about
the police department’s long-standing
commitment to diversity within its ranks,
the department’s stance regarding on-going professional development/training for
all of its officers, its policies and procedures, and the acquisition and deployment
of contemporary police equipment.
“Although we are some distance from
Ferguson, both literally and figuratively, it
is more than appropriate that I meet with
the members of this community to answer
their questions about this tragedy in the
context of the activities of the Santa Monica Police Department,” Seabrooks said.
Chief Seabrooks closed the forum
with, “A police department’s legitimacy and its community support are only
strengthened when the organization’s
leadership embraces the notion that it is
proper for the public is to question the entity’s actions and it is more than appropriate for the agency’s leadership to provide
cogent, thoughtful answers in response.”
Judging from the overall tone, tenor and
community response, Chief Seabrooks did
just that.
In a city of just over 90-thousand
residents, which are more than 70% white,
the Santa Monica Police Department is a
rarity in that it is much more diverse than
the community it serves and protects.
“A diverse workforce is a more
tolerant workforce,” says Chief Seabrooks.
“It is more understanding, more receptive
to different ideas and ways of looking at
things. Our department is more diverse
than the community we serve—if we look
at population that lives here—but if you
look at the reality that we are a destination
location that begins to change the dynamic.”
The City of Santa Monica is a popular
regional, national and international tourist
destination, and on weekends and during
the summer, the daytime population
swells to anywhere between 250-450K peo-
ple. Making sure the police department
can address and relate to the different
cultural and ethnic makeup of that population, is something Seabrooks has always
focused on. She was instrumental in developing an acclaimed cultural competencies
program, aspects of which continue to be
shared with law enforcement agencies
throughout California.
“It’s very satisfying for me to see
how far the organizations I have worked
with—and law enforcement in general—
have come in terms of embracing diversity,
particularly in terms of women and people
of color. When I first joined the profession, women as supervisors were almost
unheard of. I was actually the first woman
to be promoted to sergeant here; it is interesting to think of the reaction then and
juxtapose it to now, when it is common-
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