Carlsbad Police Department De-Escalation Training
The Carlsbad Equality Coalition has had the pleasure of gathering with members of the Carlsbad Police Department, consulted to review and reflect on the Police Academy’s De-Escalation Training. It is with great pride that we foster this relationship our police department as they work to cultivate not a force of warriors, but a community of public safety attendants.
Student Allyship Trainings
The CEC works with local Carlsbad schools on allyship trainings, with the goal of giving kids a safe space to talk about their identities, and creating a more inclusive learning and social environment.
Tyre Nichols Vigil
Hosted vigil in honor of the life of Tyre Nichols whose life was brutally taken by the Memphis police. Carlsbad gathered together to hear from Rev. Madison Shockley, activists like the NCEJC's Yusef Miller and the NAACP's Sonja Robinson, police chief Mickey Williams, and several students.
De-Escalation Policy
The Carlsbad Equality Coalition worked with the Carlsbad Police Department to create a new De-Escalation Policy.
“The policy is intended to provide officers who are called to a crisis or criminal act the best tactics and techniques to facilitate a peaceful resolution.”
City of Carlsbad
"The policy is several pages long and focuses on different approaches when officers respond to service calls, including pre-engagement considerations, de-escalation techniques and disengagement considerations."
10 News
"Carlsbad Police’s new policy and guidelines are measures meant to introduce new techniques, crisis intervention tactics and other alternatives to reasonably avoid use-of-force situations."
The Coast News
"We acknowledge that this policy exists in a living and growing process, which will evolve as we learn more and is an opportunity for future continued cooperation".
North County Daily Star
Civilian Engagement Committee
In the wake of the violence by police officers using undue force across the country, activists, including members of the CEC, gathered to advocate for oversight of the police.
On Oct. 20, 2020, Carlsbad city staff presented the overview of the different options for citizen oversight of police departments and the following recommendation: to obtain input from the community regarding law enforcement concerns and desired aspects of police oversight, and hire an expert consultant to design a police oversight and review program that is tailored to the needs of the City of Carlsbad.
The City Council instead voted to direct staff to hold four public meetings, one in each of the four City Council districts, and bring back a report to the City Council by March 2021. This was not enough for the CEC. We went back and advocated for a civilian engagement committee, and the city council voted in favor in 2022.
George Floyd Vigil
The Carlsbad Equality Coalition Hosted a Vigil for George Floyd. Speakers included Reverend Shockley, City Council members Dr. Priya Bhat-Patel and Teresa Acosta, Cipriano Vargas, Yusef Miller, Reverend Cheri Metier, Bea Palmer, and Enrique Morones, and they spoke about the racial divide and police brutality that affect our country.