"I planned a march, about a week and a half after George Floyd's death. I knew I needed to do something, I'd been in the cities protesting and marching but this is my community," explained Kates. "I know full well the problems that we have here. I know how diverse we are and how we could be a beacon for change here, but we haven't been so far. So I think this is an excellent community to start a movement in. I just wasn't sure how to do that."
Jason Cotnor is the chief of police for Redwood Falls Police Department. Cotner said that the police department received an email notice from Gail Kates, Dan's mom, which said that they were planning a march. "So we made a decision that we wanna participate in [the march], if for no other reason just to facilitate the planning of it because we'd rather help them accomplish what they're trying to accomplish and keep everybody safe, than just close our eyes to it and hope for the best."
Kates said that he was nervous about bringing his march idea up to local law enforcement and was just going to plan the march without telling them. "My mom talked me into it, she said [to] give them a shot basically. So I did. We met. It went better than I ever could have imagined," Kates recalled. "Super supportive, they were very understanding, I never felt like it was just for PR, that they're just doing this to make themselves look good. Truly felt like they were actually part of the movement."
After the march, Kates didn't want to let the movement's momentum fizzle. "I didn't want the march to be a one-time thing, and then everyone just forgets about the movement," he said. "I thought joining the police commission would be a good idea for that," Kates said. "Still was nervous though, I thought I'd be the only person of color on it 'till I found out that by my friend's sister, her name is Holly, she's a Native American woman from town, I found out she was on it already and then when I found out she was on it, it was kind of a no brainer."
The police commission is made up of citizens that are chosen by the mayor, plus one member of the city council sits on the commission as a non-viting member. Chief of Police Cotner said that the comission acts as a sounding board for him. "I provide information to them about what's happening with the police department, and they have input on, for example, they sit in on the hiring committee. When we have to hire an officer, a member is invited to participate in the interviews," he said. Police Chief Cotner said that sometimes the information the commission is given isn't necessarily given to the public, "so they have a bit of an inside track on what's happening," he said. "Every meeting we have, I asked them, 'what are you hearing? What are complaints? What are the rumors around town?' What's the information that I need to know that's out in the community, that may be they aren't willing to say to an officer, but maybe they're overhearing someplace else."
The most recent discussion the police commission is having is related to officer's weaponry. "The non-lethal weapon options in the community right now all they have is a taser, which honestly, realistically from having been on the commission and seeing them in action, just on the test dummies and stuff, they really legitimately don't work most of the time," Kates said. "If you have baggy clothes, if you have a jacket on, if it's winter that the prongs don't stick."
Police Chief Cotner said that some options that they're looking at is something called the bola wrap, which is a way to secure a person from a distance. "It's a temporary secure. When I had talked to the police commission they were interested in the bola wrap. We've actually purchased three of those as a test, Police Chief Cotner said. "The feedback I'm getting from the officers is that the bola wrap is a little bit like the taser, it's limited in distance, and sometimes you want to be able to deal with the person that's a little bit further away and for anything beyond 25 feet there's not a lot of good options out there."
"I am the last person to ever condone anything that happens. Flip side of that is though, if there aren't any other options, it's far easier for someone to say lethal was our only option," Kates said. "So we're working really hard right now to outfit the officers with something else, for everyone's safety, for theirs, for ours and just the accountability factor too. If something does happen now, you have had options before your gun." Kates said that this is a good first step, but should be the last. He's a proponent of defunding the police. "I know that's a hot topic for a lot of people, officers included. I don't think that officers shouldn't have the tools they need to do their jobs, however, I do believe officers wear way too many hats," Kates explained. "Part of defunding the police is giving money to other organizations that will directly help the police; our school systems, our social work areas, our domestic violence areas."
Police Chieft Cotner has a different perspective. "I don't think in a lot of circumstances there's enough officers, but I will totally agree that officers are put into situations to deal with the situation that they're not the right person for it," he said. "It's no secret. You'll hear it all the time, 'cops wear too many hats.' You're a marriage counselor at this call, you're a mental health worker at this call. You kind of become a Jack of all trades. It's not an ideal situation, but to say to have a call to defund the police is dangerous."
However, Kates still thinks that having the police on his side in doing this work in a huge bonus. "I think that's what we need in this country. If we continue to try and divide it and say, 'all cops are bad, all people of color are bad,' it's just gonna continue this until we have another world war, frankly," he said. "I think it's just super important to start those conversations, to realize that you can get lucky like I did and run into a good officer, and we can start changing these stereotypes together, putting the good ones out front and then exposing the bad ones. ... I think that something else officers need to understand is that if you are a good officer, then none of this should be a problem for you."
