We are in the process of drafting our bylaws which will serve as the main governing document for Cecil Solidarity. More information will be provided as soon as this task has been completed.

No, we do not condone violence. We aim to drive change peacefully, through public awareness and policy.

No, Cecil Solidarity is NOT anti-police nor do we think that every police office is racist. We are anti-bad copy and anti-racist ideas and policies. We recognize the difficult job that the policing community undertakes every day, and our goal is to work in solidarity with them to create a trust with the public, a positive policing culture, and a better community overall. We are more than just slogans and phrases; we are about making real changes for every member of the community, including our first responders.

Recommendation is to have group membership determine when they feel comfortable with police presence. We want everyone to feel safe and free to be themselves during rallies. Please remember that the protests are about the systemic problems within the police system.

Every town hall will be published on our FB page(s). We encourage everyone to attend.

We need help on Community Engagement Committee. We want to visit black churches, attend town halls and reach out to local businesses. We currently only have 4 volunteers. We also need volunteers on the Voter Registration Committee. This team also has work that can be done from home by writing letters, making phone calls, etc. (Eunice & Janice are the sponsors of the Community Engagement/Voter Registration Committee. Bridget Chaney-Lennon is the chairperson.) The Education Committee also needs volunteers. We need teachers, parents and counselors to help build around the 5 pillars (Keisha is the sponsor of the Education Committee).

So this is a two pronged approach because revitalizing communities is slightly different than serving the homeless community. So firstly a way to revitalize impoverished communities we can advocate for changes like better code enforcement of buildings, and hold landlords more accountable to make their buildings habitable for low-income renters. This has to be done in such a way that it doesn’t result in those renters losing their shelter because of building is condemned though, the incentive has to be for landlords to improve their buildings. another facet that would go a long way and I believe the county is already taking steps to do this is improving our public transit. Many in low-income areas don’t have access to cars and a lot of people that I’ve seen get jobs coming out of a homeless shelter trying to lift themselves up end up taking a 2-hour bus drive to and from work at the Amazon distribution center in North East for something that should be a 15-minute car ride.

As to advocating for people in the homeless population I could go on for hours about that but something that really sticks out is how we are not investing in helping them right now. I think we’ve probably alluded to it before but budgets are moral documents and most of the budgets within towns and Cecil County in the county budget itself do not reflect and investment and really helping those in the homeless population who coincidentally are usually a lot of those that are struggling with addiction as well which is one of the biggest crises facing our county. Something that has shown a lot of success in one of the communities on the eastern shore is the housing first program down in Salisbury Maryland. Their homeless population is roughly the same size as ours and for an investment that would equal something in a neighborhood of 5% of what the entire sheriff’s budget is, we could house everybody in Cecil County who was chronically homeless. And this isn’t just a giveaway either This should appeal to conservatives as well because it is cheaper for the county to put people in a house than it is to leave them on the street. Many studies show that is very costly to continually foot the bill for emergency room visits, policing, incarceration, etc When compared to just giving somebody a small room to rent so they can get their life together. It’s extremely hard to get a job when you don’t have a fixed address, and it’s extremely hard to maintain one when you don’t have one either. This program could really take off and Cecil County as well as a local shelter received a grant to hire a point person for the continuum of care for the homeless population in Cecil County and could quarterback the whole thing as far as hooking people up with mental health and housing if we went after a program like that.

There are definitely many others, but we think programs like better public transit and the housing first program We go a long way towards helping those in need around us.

We are determined to ensure that ALL students have access to an education that prepares them to compete in an ever-changing technological society. We’ve established our five education “asks” which can be found in the Town Hall presentation and additional details on our website under the “Actions” tab. Additionally, we are in the process of putting together a committee to help us with our efforts.

Currently policing in the county and local governments far outpaces the money being spent on the bigger problems in Cecil like homelessness and the opioid epidemic. Those issues were actually identified by residents as the top two issues facing the county in the last health needs assessment that was was conducted. Unfortunately, it is both expensive and ineffective to rely soley on policing to solve these issues. Currently policing accounts for over 40% of most municipal budgets and the sheriff’s office accounts for 3 times the dollars given to community services in the county. Now, after we pay all that to arrest someone, It costs us $37,000 a year to incarcerate a drug offender in ccdc, and when they come out they are no better off or equipped with the means to get better.

A program like CAHOOTS in Eugene and Beloved in Asheville NC are fantastic models to invest in and would get us more bang for the buck in helping ppl. Not only would it help get people off drugs, it would make life easier for police to no longer have to respond to mental health or addiction calls. Everybody wins if we start investing in care and treatment instead of incarceration.

One of the biggest factors in supporting LEOs engagment in nonviolent behaviors is addressing one of the major underlying causes for aggressive behavior- stress and/or trauma reactivity. The higher the stress level an individual is under, and the longer that an individual is under stress, can be directly related to more aggressive behavior or poor decision making and evaluating skills. Ongoing and consistent stress management training, mental health counseling, and stress evaluations would increase LEOs ability to more adequatley engage in controlled behavior that can consistently de escalates situations. In addition, changing implicit biases and managing behavior after high stress experiences are difficult for all of us so focusing on building in structures to contain and minimize them is important. Example, an officer who chases a suspect or engages in high adrenaline interaction is not the one to take later steps with that individual to arrest or question them, or an officer should not have to go from a traumatic call (e.g., death) immediately to another call.

Yes, a four year degree in law enforcement, criminology, sociology, social work, psychology or other related field would increase the wealth of knolwedge and training that our officers would have. GIven that LEOs are first responders who are charged with doing a wealth of duties for the public (including mental health calls, family violence and child abuse response, homelessness and poverty issues, lack of appropriate community resources, community violence, substance abuse, and theft, to name a few) they should require a broad based eduation that touches on the knowledge relevant to all aspects of their policing. There is research to support positive benefits for LEOs who do have a 4 year degree: https://www.policeone.com/police-jobs-and-careers/articles/why-cops-should-pursue-higher-education-zF6yJRfkQM4y56yK/

The mechanism for this will come via the advisory board. We want to partner with the ACLU (etc.) to repeal specific policies so this will not occur.

We are hopeful that everyone has good intent. We have a code of conduct that everyone should follow.