Will PIT treat all children equally?

THE REINVENTED Party Intervention Team sounds great. The funding bill emphasizes support and rehabilitation for offenders; it cites recidivism and the school-to-prison pipeline as problems to be mitigated by (the team). Statements from supportive City Council members also make (the team) sound kind and gentle: officers will understandingly look out for our city’s kids.

Here’s the problem: when powerful people talk about “our city’s kids” they’re usually not talking about everyone. Often, they’re talking about young people who look like Sean Markey, the young white man whose unfortunate death seems to have spurred action on this bill. That makes me think that white kids will soak up any kindness or gentleness that may come with this version of the (the team), and kids of color will — as always — get the short end of the stick.

When we’re talking about police, of course, the short end of the stick is violent and lethal. It means being arrested, beaten, or killed by a cop when your white peer wouldn’t be. Racial disparities in police treatment are well-documented; they are exaggerated for young people. And the difference is particularly big for young people whose offenses are minor — if the offense is, for instance, underage drinking. All of that is to say that with the (intervention team) Albuquerque is creating space for the worst of police bias to flourish and then sending that bias on house calls.

(Recently) , 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson was playing video games with her nephew when a Fort Worth police officer fired into her living room and ended her life. A neighbor had called the police for a safety check. There is no reason why exactly that won’t happen here too, in response to a call, at the hands of the newly created (team). And that is way too unsafe for our city’s youth.

In the face of a hard question, there may not be a right answer, but there is one answer that’s clearly wrong: increasing house calls by resurrecting the party patrol is a big mistake.

MADELYN FINUCANE Bernalillo