Representatives of Duluth NAACP, SURJ, PRISM, Twin Ports Democratic Socialist of America, The Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights Coalition, Twin Ports Save the Kids, and other community groups invite Chief Tusken to have a conversation with them.
During this conversation, the group asked if Chief Tusken would request the City Council table the riot gear vote due to community concerns. The Chief declined to make that recommendation and the NAACP issued a statement (“Public statement regarding the potential Duluth City Council vote on the Duluth Police Department’s purchase of riot gear”) recommending the vote be tabled and a community forum be planned involving at least two members of the Citizen Review Board (CRB).The Chief never reached out to plan such a community forum and stated later that he didn’t know if there would be such a forum.
IMPACT: The Duluth Police Department and City of Duluth’s lack of acknowledgement that the community has not felt involved in the process so far, and their unwillingness to take a measured, slow approach to this purchase reveals their lack of commitment to true and deep engagement with the community.