From: Robert Leftwich

To: Robert Womack

Subject: Re: Local Approach to Civil Unrest
Date: Monday, June 1, 2020 9:14:11 PM

Got it.  Good by me.

Rob Leftwich
Chief of Police
Truckee Police Department

Sent via iPhone - Please excuse any errors.

On Jun 1, 2020, at 11:44, Robert Womack <RWomack@townoftruckee.com>

wrote:


Chief,
 
Just letting you know things are good for me and I am “back in the saddle”.  Given that,
I spoke to Chris R. and they are using the EOC for one employee, and maybe adding
another, which actually works well for us at the moment.  I was going to put away the
EOC stuff in the next day or two, however given where we are at, I going to leave it set-
up “warm” for at least a week (Chris is good with this as it reduces the work on his
end).  If we have to move to “hot” and actually work from the EOC, his employees can
move elsewhere for that time period. 
 
Let me know if you need anything else. 
 
From: Robert Leftwich
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2020 8:18 AM
To: town-employees <town-employees@townoftruckee.com>
Subject: Local Approach to Civil Unrest
 
Good Morning All,
 
I have addressed this email to all employees but most of it is more applicable to our
Police Department staff.  They have heard this all before.  I think it is important during
times like these that we all have the correct perspective and talking points for
community members that might ask.
 
As if COVID had not frayed our nerves enough, this weekend has developed into a new
mess across our nation.  As most urban and suburban areas deal with some level of
protests around the death of George Floyd, several areas have developed into
widespread rioting that no longer has any resemblance of normal public outcry.  At this
point, I remain cautiously optimistic that Truckee will not see organized rioting in the
same way that many cities have.  Most of the large scale rioting is politically motivated
and organized by groups similar to Antifa or radicalized cells of Black Lives Matter.  The
goal is to have the resistance become mob-like and grow with fringe criminal elements
joining in.  Eventually, the conflicts cause frenzy and a certain lawlessness spreads
throughout the crowd.  The organized instigators are often from out of the area and
they desire a high level of media coverage and a significant police presence that is likely
to cause police conflict that can be filmed and edited to further their narrative. 
Truckee provides little of those opportunities and will likely not be a location that is
worth traveling to.  We could see graffiti and some vandalism that develops into looting
but the events will likely be smaller, short lived and consist of local actors who want to
mimic what they are seeing in the news, if it happens at all. 
 
Typically, residential neighborhoods are not impacted and people are able to maintain
a high level of safety by staying in their homes or offices.  Driving to where the action is
to witness what is going on is where some make a critical mistake.  It is easy to get
caught in the traffic or to become a victim of the violence.  Riots are not
demonstrations and you are not “standing in solidarity.”  Simply said, our best advice to
people is to stay away and stay inside if rioting develops.
 
Our enforcement philosophy will be as it is with most things, reasonable, efficient and
swift actions that mitigate the problem as best as possible.  Although the terms are not
the exact technical definitions that some of us learned in training, the following
illustrates what we are seeing across the Country.
 
Demonstration (Rally) – This is the most likely thing we will encounter in the next few
days.  Tuesday has two events in the planning stages and these groups of people are
typically on the sidewalks, holding signs and do nothing to involve those that choose
not to be involved.  Our role will be to help them safely hold their demonstration and
protect their right to peacefully assemble.  We will make contact with organizers and
offer any services or suggestions that will make their event safer for participants.
 
Protest – This is a more robust demonstration.  As it develops, certain members of the
demonstration might start blocking streets, business doorways or marching down the
middle of the street.  We become more alert to the actions of the group because their
actions start to involve others who might not want to be involved.  This can cause
conflict and it can quickly escalate into people trying to drive through the protesting
group or groups starting to form as counter protests.  We will make all reasonable
efforts to divert traffic and give the group a period of time to protest but also allow for
a normal dispersion over time.  We will coordinate with organizers to drive the group
back into a Demonstration mode but allowing organizers to be the lead.
 
Unlawful Assembly – At some point, we might have to declare a protest an unlawful
assembly if we feel there is a significant risk to safety.  Our orders to the crowd will be
clear and several duplicative orders will be given with clear timeframes for the crowd
to disperse.  Most of the time, police will be working through the unlawful assembly
process as we develop strategic plans to move the group.  When you see large groups
of police personnel arriving and lines of officers forming, this is likely the developing
strategy.
 
Riot – Fairly self-explanatory.  Large crowds began to move quickly or run through
streets.  It begins to feel chaotic and you start to see vandalism develop.  The vandalism
develops and grows into fire setting, destruction of vehicles and broken windows on
businesses.  Broken windows develops into looting and parts of the mod begin lashing
out at those not involved.  This is exactly what we have been seeing develop in several
cities.  Do not be fooled by news stories that refer to this as “demonstrations” or
“protests.”  It is rioting, pure and simple.  There are elements that started as protests
but once it devolves, there is no reason to believe it is anything other than what it
appears to be.  Anyone reasonable and only wanting to be part of a demonstration has
no business sticking around.
 
Our Police Department’s role is complicated.  Our job is actually to protect people’s
right to demonstrate and protest.  We need to be incredibly cautious to not act too
soon and have it appear as though we are preventing a reasonable level of protesting. 
Doing so can make a town or city a target for those groups who are looking to prove a
point.  Being too proactive can actually bring bigger issues.  At the same time, our
actions can’t be too slow.  When we sense the crowd is devolving from protest and into
fringe rioting, we need to separate those actors and act reasonably and swiftly.  Letting
the frenzy spread will likely never result in the core group losing interest and
dispersing. 
 
If we should see demonstrations or protests over the next few weeks, it is critical to not
assume that a riot situation is eminent.  Our history is Truckee has proven time and
time again that reasonable people act reasonably.  It is likely nothing to be concerned
about.  If you chose to not be involved, turn the other way.  If you get caught in a
group, look for a police officer and calmly explain that you want out of the crowd but
don’t know where to go, they will lead you out.
 
When incidents happen, like what happen to Mr. Floyd, people feel compelled to do
something and be part of change.  I am not going to argue against the perception of
police brutality or systemic racism, although neither have even been close to my
experience and interactions with hundreds if not thousands of law enforcement
professionals.  I will tell you that we have close to 800 thousand law enforcement
officers in this country.  Annually, it is likely that police interact with well over 500
million people.  Calculating those events that do end tragically out of some 500 million
interactions is a percentage that is hard to imagine.  Police are prosecuted at a lower
per capita rate than doctors, lawyers, teachers and even fire fighters.  We are one of
the most regulated industries in our nation with some of the most stringent training
requirements.  To say that law enforcement needs to “change” is a bit of a misnomer
because we are in a constant state of adaptation around community perceptions.  We
have been adapting our strategies for decades around community expectations and
concerns.  Officers in most modern agencies are video and audio recorded for their
entire shift.  That is worth repeating…conceptualize for a second what it might be like
for you in your job to be video and audio recorded through your entire work day.  To
know if there is any question about your performance that your boss can review and
critique every second of your actions after the fact and compare that to policy manuals
that are hundreds of pages.
 
Lastly and without trying to be defensive in the least, I will share a little about what my
perspective is.  George Floyd did not deserve what happened to him.  Mr. Floyd was
not innocent and he didn’t die because of a knee on his neck but it did contribute to his
death.  The police tactics that were used, by at least one officer, appear to be
professionally negligent and unnecessary.  None of that justifies the actions of those
that are rioting.  None!  To prove my point, if you don’t know who Patrick Underwood
of Pinole, CA is, you should Google him.  Patrick was a different African American man
who was murdered in cold blood on Friday and he was completely innocent.  There is
no one demonstrating for him or rioting because of his death.  In fact, the news has
barely covered who he is.  There is not one article from Antifa or Black Lives Matter
that discusses his life mattering.  I highly encourage all of you to form your own
perceptions and opinions and I will help support those to the end of time.  Just try to
make sure they are void of the political noise that seems to be trying to influence our
perception of what all this is really about.                   
 
Rob Leftwich
Chief of Police
Truckee Police Department