IMAGE SMITH ASHEVILLE PROFESSIONAL

Police-mental health collaboration is decades old and proves to alleviate use of force, reduce injuries to officers and citizens, lessen justice system involvement and lessen additional adverse outcomes.Ģ. By customizing hiring profiles and recruiting professionals to address complex societal issues such as homelessness, domestic violence, substance use, and mental health issues Coresponder teams will form and be embedded within our department.įulfilling this new hiring objective in this manner will lead to a more diverse response to community issues and begin transforming our law enforcement system in an incremental, but holistic way. In the midst of department-wide staffing issues, I propose that we formulate new hiring objectives and fill those vacancies with the goal of creating alternative response mechanisms to advance our problem-solving techniques. If community policing remains our North Star, how we get there requires citizens to answer this question: Can we reduce police funding and limit their roles while ensuring safety?Ĭurrently, responses to that question are mixed and some fluctuate, but I can´t ignore the low hanging fruit. There is an outstanding need for stronger community support networks and strategies in order to reduce traditional law enforcement responses to behavioral and mental health crises, and other quality of life concerns. It is imperative to continue working collaboratively with other elected officials, community stakeholders and Asheville Police Department (APD) to align our public safety service delivery model with the immediate and future needs expressed during the 2020 ¨Re-imagining Public Safety¨ public input exercise.īased on my interpretation of the final report from those listening sessions (which included community members as well as 40 sworn and non-sworn APD employees) and ongoing conversations, it´s agreed that police can´t solve public safety issues alone.

IMAGE SMITH ASHEVILLE PROFESSIONAL

Professional experience includes community organizing and event planning, workforce development outreach and recruitment, as well as behavioral and mental health work within adolescent populations.Ĭontact and campaign If elected, what is your top priority as an Asheville City Council member and what steps would you take to achieve that goal? Currently, Chair of Public Safety Committee and Boards and Commissions. Share your questions and ideas for future elections coverage by emailing us at or record a voice mail at 82.Įlected to Asheville City Council in 2017, appointed Vice- Mayor in 2020. The candidates' responses have not been edited or fact checked by BPR.

Editor's note: BPR's candidate questionnaire was created after asking community members to share their questions and what issues matter most to them and their communities.

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