HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Cultural Communities Board - 02/28/2017Kent Cultural Communities Board Meeting February 28, 2017
Minutes 6:30 p.m.
Place: First Christian Church
11717 SE 240th Street, Kent, WA
Approval Pending
Attending:
Yusuf Bashir
Marvin Eckfeldt
Rand Al Hammadi
Shamso Issak
Josephine Karanja
Satwinder Kaur
Sharnshoke Kaur
Hussein Al Kinani
Dr. Sonia Morales
Mizanur Rahman (Mizan)
Cesar Rangel
Ta Kwe Say
Ted Schwarz
Vaivao Semisi-Tupou
Staff: Dinah Wilson
Absent:
Beabe Akpojovwo
Marwa Almusawi
Yuriy Zaremba
Staff: Mayor Cooke
1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order by Dinah Wilson and turned over to Chair,
Satwinder Kaur.
The CCB thanked Board member, Marvin Eckfeldt, for reserving the meeting space
and First Christian and the volunteers for preparing dinner.
A significant number of guests accompanied CCB members to the meeting.
2. Featured Speaker
• Police Chief Ken Thomas was the featured speaker, and some of his staff
accompanied him. Chief Thomas had just met with Immigration & Customs
Enforcement (ICE) staff, and he relayed information about their policies on
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Kent Cultural Communities Board Meeting February 28, 2017
Minutes 6:30 p.m.
Place: First Christian Church
11717 SE 240th Street, Kent, WA
Approval Pending
deportation and other immigration issues. He emphasized that he was simply
sharing what was told to him, and that KPD is independent of ICE.
• Chief Thomas shared a PowerPoint presentation with data points on arrests,
average length of imprisonment, etc. (the PowerPoint was emailed to CCB)
• Compared to their population percentages, a large number of African
American and Latinos are arrested
• Chief Thomas discussed how KPD responds to requests to assist ICE-if
someone’s life is at risk, KPD will assist
• KPD will do what is necessary to keep the community safe
• KPD will not agree to be federally deputized and does not ask anyone to
verify if he/she is an immigrant
• KPD officers are assigned to elementary schools and must visit at least twice
weekly
• Commander Holmes provides a two-hour orientation to new refugees
entering the country (works with World Relief & Jewish Family Service)
3. Suggestions/Questions/Comments from Attendees
• CCB should consider helping the community establish a program to help
parents talk to their immigrant kids-programs created by traditional society
may not resonate with immigrant communities
• Does KPD receive training on how to engage with immigrants, refugees,
people of color and multicultural populations in Kent?
• One of the reasons it is difficult to recruit police officers in immigrant/refugee
communities is that people risked their lives to come to the USA, and parents
don’t want to put their kids at risk once they arrive here
• Another impediment is that the State requires US citizenship for police
officers
4. Adjournment
At 8:20 p.m., Dinah Wilson adjourned the meeting.
Notes taken by: Dinah Wilson
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