Dear Colleagues,
Do not fail to LISTEN and participate in this innovative and potentially radical change in not only how policing is administered in DC, but also how healthcare could be accessed and effectively rendered by TRUSTED community providers of care. Imagine how much money might be SAVED in criminal justice costs (arrest + incarceration + court services + lost employment + family disruption) if someone suffering from a mental health crisis or substance use disorder is taken to MEDICAL TREATMENT RATHER THAN JAIL! An effective understanding of this academic partnership between Howard University and DCPD could not only save lives and reduce crime but also dramatically free up millions of dollars previously spent on revolving door MASS INCARCERATION to be transitioned to effective MEDCAL and COMMUNITY CARE (housing, food, clothing, transportation, counseling = Social Determinants of Health).
This is more prima facia evidence why Howard University should anchor the spiritual, economic, mental, and physical healthcare recovery (rather than current exclusion from the new hospital) on the Eastside of DC as a holistic model for Black communities nationwide. The current idea that some “white knight” like UHS-GWU is going to swoop in and save Black folks in DC or any place in America was long ago designated as the definition of self-delusion and “insanity” (see Malcolm X March 18, 1964 Harvard speech). Likewise today, the anti-racist White academician, lecturer Tim Wise acknowledges that our best chance for success in minority uplift is for Black leaders to LEAD and “White allies” to FOLLOW: An exercise in mental gymnastics that will obviously tax the character, integrity, and status quo of both the former and latter!
Edwin C. Chapman, MD
D.C. police, Howard University to host community forums on law enforcement
Sessions over Zoom will be in all eight wards as efforts to reimagine policing intensify.
By Peter Hermann