COMMENTARY

MAY 4, 2023

Volume XXX, Number 37

PUBLISHER: Fran Zankowski

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Caitlin Rockett

ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER:

Will Matuska

FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS:

Will Brendza, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Adam Perry, Dan Savage, Toni Tresca, Gregory Wakeman, Colin Wrenn

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER:

Kellie Robinson

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE:

Matthew Fischer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Chris Allred

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER:

Carter Ferryman

MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen

SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER:

Mark Goodman

CIRCULATION TEAM:

Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE

BOOKKEEPER: Emily Weinberg

FOUNDER/CEO: Stewart Sallo

As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holdsbarred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly. com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

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OPINION

City Council vote is a referendum on police oversight

BY NAACP EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE AND EL CENTRO AMISTAD

On March 1, 2019, Boulder police surrounded Black Naropa University student

Zayd Atkinson, threatening his life and safety, for the crime of doing his job. The incident went viral, drawing attention to facts on the ground — Boulder is no different than any other city in America. People of color are twice as likely to be stopped by police in Boulder, police officers are unskilled in deescalation tactics and quick to use compliance as justification for excessive force. NAACP Boulder County called for citizen police oversight in response, demanding not only an oversight entity, but a community-led process. NAACP Boulder County, a local unit of the national organization, has learned from 114 years of experience what would happen if community voices were left out of the decision-making process. Indeed, four years later, City Council wishes to overturn Police Oversight Panel (POP) members and their community decision- making and put it firmly in the hands of Council members aligned with a particular political agenda. The newly formed POP was to be a community-led decision-making body, even if their decisions were limited by the inordinate powers of the police chief. Despite the relatively quick response of City Council to calm an outraged community in 2019, it is becoming clear the city was insincere in its efforts to create effective community police oversight.