Recommendation to Bexley Mayor and City Council: Adopt the following resolution as an overall guide to Bexley’s efforts to break down systemic racism, eliminate racial profiling and create a healthier and more harmonious community

WHEREAS we recognize that racism is a system that normalizes rules and behaviors that continue to disadvantage and traumatize Black people,

WHEREAS, systemic racism causes persistent discrimination and disparate outcomes in many areas of life, and affects the emotional, mental and physical health of African Americans

WHEREAS we recognize that systemic racism is a national problem affecting cities everywhere, including Bexley,

WHEREAS racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed a crime and whereas racial profiling is one of the root causes of institutional and systemic racism,

WHEREAS racial profiling threatens the lives and livelihood of African Americans,

WHEREAS Bexley’s Black residents and visitors have reported specific instances of trauma resulting from treatment by Bexley police,

WHEREAS the Bexley Police Department’s data show that the Black community comprises 5.7% of Bexley population and 23.8% of Franklin County population yet are subject to 69% of traffic stops,

WHEREAS the Bexley Police Department has stated that “In order to ensure that the Department’s mission of Fairness, Integrity, Respect, and Empathy is realized, we must take additional, concrete steps to ensure that no individual demographic is disproportionately impacted by policing.”

THE CITY OF BEXLEY HEREBY COMMITS to breaking down systems of racial inequity and achieving a vision that everyone experiences the police support they need to feel safe while living in and visiting our city.

FURTHER, IT IS RESOLVED, that the starting point of our work in racial equity must be reflection and internal examination, whereby the City will look for ways to engage our leaders and employees in open and courageous conversations on racism and inequity.

AND IT IS RESOLVED that we must make changes in both policy and behavior, including:

• Eliminating all forms of racial profiling,

• Ensuring appropriate and equitable treatment of minors,

• Eliminating unjustified traffic and street stops,

• Enabling citizen input into police policy and procedures,

• Improving relations between our police officers and those they deal with.

Further, our efforts to achieve change must include:

• Directly and positively engaging members of our police force to adopt this vision and further the changes needed to achieve it.

• Creating and monitoring measurements that provide clear insight into our progress on these issues,

• Regularly asking our Black residents and visitors about their experience with Bexley policing and how we can make it better.

We believe that, if we achieve these things, Bexley can become a beacon of hope to black communities in Central Ohio and beyond, demonstrating how it is possible to come together to make our communities better for everyone.