Brittany Packnett, Executive Director of Teach For America St. Louis, has been on the frontlines of the Ferguson movement, demanding stronger police accountability for more than 130 days. She has met twice as an appointed member of the Ferguson Commission created by Gov. Jay Nixon. Last week, President Barack Obama selected Packnett to serve on a White House taskforce to study “21st century policing” and ways to increase the public’s trust in police officers.
A native of North St. Louis County, Packnett wants to make sure children’s voices aren’t “lost in the conversation.”
“I have the unique perspective of talking to so many young people,” she said. “They have been very honest about the experiences they have with law enforcement and the kind of relationship they would like to see.”
In her professional work, she witnesses how poor relationships with police officers affect children’s education, she said. Teach For America corps members largely work in predominately African-American neighborhoods and schools.
“We need to do a lot of researching on how policing affects adolescents,” she said.
“So many of these stories are, ‘I was walking home from school,’ or ‘I was walking to my grandma’s house.’”
Last week, President Obama signed an executive order to create the taskforce and announced its 12 members. The goal is to “strengthen community policing and strengthen trust among law enforcement officers and the communities they serve,” according to a White House statement.
The taskforce includes law enforcement representatives, community leaders, academics, and youth leaders. Packnett is the only member from the St. Louis area.
However, she met another member, Jose Lopez, last month when several young protest leaders from around the country were invited to speak with Obama. Lopez is currently the lead organizer at Make the Road New York, a Brooklyn-based non-profit community organization focused on civil rights, education reform and combating poverty.
“Jose is brilliant,” she said. “He is exactly the kind of person we need,” on the taskforce.
The two chairs of the group are Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey, who also serves as president of the Major Cities Chiefs Police Association, and Laurie Robinson, professor of Criminology, Law and Society at George Mason University and former Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs.
The taskforce’s Executive Director is Ron Davis, director of DOJ’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) Office.
The taskforce is charged with preparing a report and recommendations for the President. Their initial report is due by March.
“He is feeling urgent about this,” she said of Obama. “In the Oval Office a few weeks ago, I could tell he is taking this very personally. He wants to see some clear, thoughtful action come from this.”
The group will hold listening sessions where they will hear testimony from invited witnesses, as well as their recommendations. They will also invite comments and questions from the public. The first session will be held in Washington, D.C. in mid-January.
Packnett said listening is the first and most important step. As a Ferguson Commissioner, Packnett has been hearing the concerns of people in St. Louis for several weeks.
“I want to make sure that I am thoughtfully and dutifully representing those perspectives” on a national level, she said.
Other taskforce members include:
- Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a private, non-profit organization headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama
- Susan Rahr, executive director of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission who has spent over 30 years as a law enforcement officer.
- Tracey Meares, the Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law at Yale Law School.
- Constance Rice, a civil rights attorney and co-director of the Advancement Project
- Roberto Villaseñor, chief of the Tucson Police Department
- Sean Smoot, director and chief counsel for the Police Benevolent & Protective Association of Illinois and the Police Benevolent Labor Committee
- Cedric L. Alexander, deputy chief operating officer for public safety in DeKalb County, Georgia and national president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.
The group’s meetings and outreach details, including the online public comment process, will be announced soon.
