From:                                         Knutsen, Jon D. <jknutsen@cob.org>

Sent:                                           Friday, July 17, 2020 5:34 PM

Subject:                                     Bellingham Police Perspective Project

 

Hello Neighborhood Presidents,

 

Back on March 10th I attended a downtown meeting where the Mayor and several City Council members spoke to a large room packed full of people. The Mayor announced that Whatcom County just confirmed it’s first two cases of Covid-19 but no one really knew what that meant for us. After the official meeting concluded, people stood around enjoying conversation and dessert. Little did we know that would be one of the last large group meetings most of us would attend for months. It’s been a very strange time to be an Outreach Officer to say the least, and while I’ve been able to work on a number of projects and help in other areas at the department, I’ve definitely missed being able to connect with community members in my regular capacity.

 

Back in 2013, I was on the bike unit when Chief Cook asked us to attend a Chief’s Advisory Council meeting and present information on downtown related issues. Rather than bore the Council with statistics about crime and enforcement efforts, we used our phones to capture short video interviews with people whom we interacted with on a regular basis. Despite the poor video and audio quality, the video was well received by the Council members and gave them the opportunity to see what we observe on a daily basis. We titled that video the Perspective Project and since that time, I always wanted to revisit the project and shoot more videos that would allow citizens to see a side of Bellingham PD and our city that they usually don’t get to witness.

 

So with social distancing in place and my lack of meetings and trainings to attend, I decided to dust off my Visual Communications degree and start shooting the first several episodes of the updated Perspective Project. Originally I was going to address the bike theft issues in Bellingham, which had spiked during Covid, but then the death of George Floyd occurred and the world seemed to turn upside down overnight. Our department was inundated with questions about race and policing, policies, use of force, hiring practices, and so on. Never in a million years would I have chosen to start this project with tackling these difficult issues, but all other police related topics seem irrelevant right now. When we started filming, I knew we wouldn’t be able to please everyone, and I know the first episode angered some people who wanted us to specifically address systemic racism or talk to community members who oppose our opinions. While I understand where those comments are coming from, our goal was to move beyond the national headlines and present information specifically about our department and our policies. Members of BPD have engaged in a number of community meetings recently and the videos were never meant to replace these discussions. The hope was to share some of the information that’s come up at these meetings with a broader audience. As our Public Information Officer has reminded people, this is the start of the conversation and just one outlet.

 

If you’re interested in watching the videos or passing them along to your neighborhood groups, the links are included below. As I stated in the introduction to episode #1, I don’t know how long this project will continue. However, if social distancing prevents Outreach Officers from engaging with community members in our regular capacity for an extended time, we plan on producing video content to cover some of the topics that we often discuss at neighborhood meetings such as personal safety, scam prevention, residential safety, etc. If you have ideas on topics you’d like to see, feel free to send them my way.

 

I know people are growing tired of social distancing and wearing masks, as am I… but with my face now on YouTube and so many people angry at the police, I’ve found new motivation to embrace wearing a mask whenever I leave the house :)  I hope you are all doing well and staying healthy. Take care.

 

BELLINGHAM POLICE PERSPECTIVE PROJECT

 

   Episode 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIgEX1s6NtE&t=1s

 

   Episode 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYqqFcyqYZ8&t=2s

 

   Episode 3 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joz8FbHWIyI

 

 

Jon Knutsen | Outreach Officer

Bellingham Police Department

505 Grand Avenue | Bellingham, WA 98225

360.778.8691  |  jknutsen@cob.org

 

My incoming/outgoing emails are subject to public disclosure requirements per RCW 42.56