Bellingham police find new avenue to share perspective, but some calling it propaganda
A Bellingham Police Department Youtube series on topical issues, ranging from defunding the police to behavioral health outreach, has drawn critical responses from some community members.
Outreach Officer Jon Knutsen created the episodic series called the “Perspective Project” to in an effort to continue connecting with the community as COVID-19 had eliminated his usual meetings, he told The Bellingham Herald in an emailed statement.
Since July 1, the project has focused on topics relevant to the national discourse on race and policing.
“I never would have chosen to start this project by tackling these difficult issues, which seemed virtually impossible to get right, but all other police related topics seemed irrelevant at the time,” Knutsen wrote.
The first video which delves into race, policing and calls to defund the police has so far gathered more than 4,800 views, however subsequent videos have gotten less than 1,300 views. Recent videos have focused on behavioral health outreach, with one releasing just as a day before a Herald investigation found some police officers used a man experiencing mental health issues for a prank.
Knutsen made the videos on department time as part of his work for department’s Outreach Division. There were no additional costs for the series, Knutsen said.
“Normally during non-pandemic times, I spend a considerable amount of time preparing PowerPoints and presentation materials for classes and training I teach,” Knutsen wrote. “At this point, I’ve been able to work on these videos when I would normally be preparing material for these types of presentations.”
Critical Responses
Some of the public feedback to the videos has not been entirely positive.
The comments section of earlier videos show a mixed response with some thanking the officers and other’s criticizing the content and format of the videos.
Kristina Michele, a Bellingham resident who previously organized a June protest, said she thinks the opening sequence of the videos resembled a propaganda film. She added she has had discussions with the Bellingham Police Department in the past, and the videos confirmed her belief that officers in the department can be defensive and condescending toward critics.
“Stop telling us how great a job you’re doing,” Michele said of officers in the videos. “Can you just meet us in the middle, at the table? Can you just hear us? Can we work and take steps together forward on anything? Can you let us tell you you’re doing a great job?”
Abdul Malik Ford, a Western Washington University student and Associated Student president, said he valued the department having these conversations but took issue with the presentation. He said the videos feel like an echo chamber for the police, allowing them to be too dismissive of calls for reform, such as defunding the police.
“Imagine if that conversation has been shifted to where you had community members that were knowledgeable about exactly what defunding the police means,” Ford said. “ (Imagine) what that conversation would then look like with the deputy police chief, maybe the police chief and other officers. That’s the kind of outreach I want to see from my police department.”
In the first video, Knutsen and Deputy Chief Florence Simon suggest police stops are motivated by behavior rather than race. Ford said he felt that perspective failed to recognize the impact of implicit biases and systemic racism.
“That can be seen as understandable, but as a black man that was off putting to me,” Ford said. “As black individuals in this society (and) in this country, we don’t have the privilege of being comfortable around law enforcement, and we have many reasons as to why we’re not able to achieve that.”
Knutsen wrote that the public response to the videos has generally been positive, but acknowledged that some people have called the videos police propaganda.
“Whether people agree with the content or not, I hope the majority of the viewers see the videos as an effort to create understanding and share information with the community,” Knutsen wrote.
Michele said she thinks these kinds of videos are not the right approach for community outreach at this time. As public servants, Michele said she thinks the department should focus more on listening and action rather than making their case.
“You don’t go to your boss and tell them ‘I’m doing a bang up job, I deserve a raise’,” Michele said. “You wait for them to tell you that. They (the police) work for us. You all need to wait for us to tell you that, because until then you’re not doing your job correctly.”
The department does not intend for these videos to replace community meetings where conversations about policing take place, Knutsen wrote. Members of the department have been engaged in relevant discussions since the death of George Floyd in May, and the videos serve to complement those efforts, according to Knutsen.
“While people can leave comments on various media platforms in response to videos, it isn’t the same as being able to have a discussion in person,” Knutsen wrote. “Having said that, the videos reach a broader audience than I can reach in person, so at this point it seems they both have value in terms of outreach.”
Origins
The idea for the project originated in 2013 when the Bellingham Police Department bike unit, which Knutsen belonged to at the time, created a video for the chief of police advisory council, according to Knutsen. The bike unit opted for a video approach with interviews of people they regularly encountered rather than a statistic driven presentation, he wrote.
Since then, Knutsen wanted to return to the project, but his duties as a patrol officer and later an outreach officer kept him too busy to take it. However, he revived it in May to keep himself busy amid the pandemic.
The Bellingham Police Department is still committed to in-person conversations with the public during the pandemic albeit in smaller groups with proper safety precautions, Lt. Claudia Murphy told the Bellingham Herald in an email statement. However, the nature of the pandemic forced the department to adapt by conducting outreach through social media, including YouTube videos.
The videos are produced entirely by Knutsen with some feedback and direction from other officers and supervisors. About every five minutes of content takes approximately 2 hours to film and edit using his own equipment, according to Knutsen.
“I have a BA in Visual Communications and was a graphic designer before becoming a police officer, so sharing information and telling a story visually is something I’ve always been passionate about,” Knutsen wrote.
With the sixth episode on internet crimes against children dropping on Wednesday, Sept. 2, Knutsen wrote he expects the project to continue with community feedback at least as long as current pandemic conditions persist.
“My guess is that when social distancing relaxes and I return to my normal in-person meeting and training schedule, we’ll evaluate the overall value of the video series and decide if it’s something that I can continue in conjunction with my other assignments,” Knutsen wrote.
This story was originally published September 7, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
CORRECTION: Funding for the video series was clarified Sept. 8, 2020.
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