The East Precinct no longer has a Crime Prevention Coordinator to attend community meetings and talk with residents and local businesses about safety issues in their neighborhoods. But Felicia Cross has a new, bigger role to play at the Seattle Police Department.
Cross recently transitioned into a new role as SPD’s Community Outreach Program Manager taking over for Maggie George who held the position for 30 years.
Cross has advocated to bridge the gap between the police and community members as former chair of the African American Advisory Council where she redefined the importance of the group’s meetings. In her new job, Cross aims continue this effort. “I want to energize, revamp, and revive all the demographic councils,” she said. “I want to learn about each council and their needs, and I want to be a resource with each one of the councils.”
SPD’s Demographic Advisory Councils play an increasingly important role as the department works to address use of force issues raised by the Justice Department and repair trust with Seattle’s communities of color:
These diverse councils provide an effective way to build bridges between communities who often feel underrepresented and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) which results in increased awareness, improved understanding, and open dialogue regarding challenging issues including perceptions of racial profiling. Advisory councils are also a good way to gain knowledge and understanding of SPD and policing in general.
Before Cross started as chair of SPD’s African American Advisory Council, community meetings consisted of four officers and two community members. Cross raised attendance to one hundred people in her first meeting, and continued to provide a safe and diverse discussion forum for upwards of forty people.
In her meetings, Cross said she emphasized the importance of respectful dialogue, as any issue was fair game, yet a respectful atmosphere rendered all participants the opportunity learn about and work toward solving problems in their community.
Cross now plans to recreate this environment on a larger scale, opening a discussion space for all eleven advisory councils. “I feel what I’m taking away from being the past chair and now coming in and managing all the councils is my passion and my drive to encourage people and their communities to come together,” she said. “I want to encourage people to participate in these groups before anything happens, so when something happens, you have established relationships and you know your neighbors.”
Cross looks to accomplish this by utilizing her past experience with SPD and as a volunteer. Having gone through the police academy in 2008, being an involved alumni member of the FBI Citizen Academy, and a former SPD Community Liaison, Cross plans to use her police background to lead projects such as Beds for Kids, an eleven-week Seattle Police Academy Training, and a women’s safety presentation for female officers.
Combining past experience with her goal to learn about each council and address its needs, Cross said she aims to recognize each council represents a community where different problems will become prevalent. Cross’s overarching focus is to make each of the eleven advisory councils prominent in their respective neighborhoods, so people are aware there is a forum they can bring their concerns to.
Cross is already working to make advisory councils more identifiable, as she is compiling a contact list for anyone who wants to send her community-related thoughts and concerns, or receive information about the Community Outreach Program. Cross is looking forward to giving community members a voice in her new role. “It can be done,” she said. “You can bring the communities together with the police, and agree to disagree, as long as you have some understanding about the department.”
You can learn more about the Demographic Advisory Councils at seattle.gov.
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