The public is being invited by Davenport Mayor Mike Matson to weigh in on policing reforms at an upcoming Davenport Civil Rights Commission meeting.
The meeting will take place at Davenport City Hall on Saturday, August 1st at 10 a.m. Those who attend in person are asked to wear masks and socially distance. The meeting will also be held over Zoom at the same time.
The Davenport Union of Professional Police released a statement about the meeting, which you can read below.
“The Davenport Union of Professional Police would first like to thank the citizens of the City of Davenport for their continued support throughout this tumultuous time. The members of the Davenport Union of Professional Police are working daily to control acts of violence to the likes of which we have never seen before. Our members are well educated, well trained, and the most professional police officers in the country. However, the negative and false statements being produced by certain officials is deafening to our members.
The false narrative surrounding policing must stop being perpetuated by the opinion of spiteful individuals and must be instead evaluated by facts. The Union of Professional Police completely refutes recent statements made by the Davenport Civil Rights Commission stating that there is a “culture” of mistreating minorities by our members. This is completely inaccurate and false, and again not backed by anything more than opinion.
Our members would be open to a fair and factual conversation on police reform. However, for the Davenport Civil Rights Commission Director Latrice Lacey to be attempting to reform our profession without seeking input from any of our members is problematic. The Union of Professional Police does not feel as if Director Lacey can render a fair and unbiased report herself due to her previous negative interactions with the Davenport Police Department and her most recent criminal proceeding.”