Agency may tap Grant’s mom for training
string of reforms announced last Friday, as protests against racism and police brutality jolted the Bay Area and cities throughout the nation. With emotions still raw from the widely viewed, slowmotion killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, many cities are contemplating plans to defund or even dismantle their police departments.
For BART, the phrase “defund the police” starts controversy — the department has long suffered from vacancies as it struggles to address drug use and crime on the system. Even so, Police Chief Ed Alvarez and General Manager Bob Powers joined Simon last Friday to roll out a proposal that would shift about $2 million intended for sworn officers and fare inspectors, instead spending it on unarmed ambassadors and a “community based, antiracism training course.”
Officials called for those reforms as they grapple with the enduring symbolism of Grant. He was shot in front of bystanders who recorded the moment on cell phones and uploaded it to YouTube — a form of citizen documentary that would later mobilize the Black Lives Matter movement. Grant inspired “Fruitvale Station,” the movie named for the station where he was shot, in the back, while being held facedown on a cold platform. His name still appears on protest signs.
Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson, recently called BART’s Police Citizen Review Board — which investigates complaints of officer misconduct — to pitch such a course. The state Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training requires all law enforcement academies to do some form of implicit bias curriculum, though some critics say it’s not enough.
The agency intends to meet with Johnson or one of her representatives soon, said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost. BART officials also worked with Johnson on a mural to commemorate Grant at Fruitvale Station, where they named a small roadway after the slain man.
Johnson said in an interview Tuesday that she aspires to train police departments throughout the Bay Area with the Oscar Grant Foundation, an organization she formed in 2010. She settled a wrongful death and civil rights lawsuit with BART for $1.3 million in 2011. Separately, the agency paid $1.5 million to Grant’s daughter, Tatiana.
“We’re trying to do as many police departments as we can,” Johnson said. “We want them to be able to see faces and let them know that these lives matter.”
She said she has talked to police officials in Oakland and hopes to pursue trainings with that department as well. She would work with a cofacilitator, the Rev. Anthony Woods, who is designing a curriculum. It would probably focus on defusing conflicts, identifying mental illness and understanding nonverbal communication, among other things.
“We don’t ever want to be in the position of telling BART how to police,” Woods said. “We do need police. But we also need better outcomes.”
Don Cameron, a retired BART police officer who went on to teach use of force in many academies, found the idea of hiring Johnson interesting. Still, he cautioned that she’ll have to know all the intricacies of police law to devise an educational program.
“She’ll have to know the ramifications of the law and what the officers can and can’t do,” he said. And any trainer would have to be fluent in BART policies, he added.
Trost stressed that BART had not put a contract out to bid for the antiracism training course, which would have to go through a pubic procurement process. Some BART officials estimate the agency has $400,000 to spend on the course. Trost and Officer Keith Garcia, the head of BART police union, expect the money to be spread among several organizations, rather than spent on a single consultant.
“It wouldn’t be accurate to say we are partnering with Wanda,” Trost said. If the board approves the $2 million reform package in its budget, then BART would set requirements for the training, issue a request for proposals and review all the applications, Trost said.
Nonetheless, Simon said she has spoken with Alvarez, the police chief, about the possibility of collaborating with Johnson on trainings.
“When we mentioned Wanda wanted to do trainings with us, he said, ‘I want to meet with her face to face and develop a training,’ ” Simon recalled. Alvarez did not return a phone call or text message left Tuesday.
And Johnson reiterated her offer during a board meeting Thursday, in which Alvarez went over reforms the transit agency has adopted since
Grant’s death, including mandatory body cameras and an independent police auditor to investigate complaints.
“It really lets me know that Oscar’s death was not in vain,” Johnson said. “We as a foundation are prepared to come in and do some training for police officers.”
Retired Santa Clara Superior Court Judge LaDoris Cordell worried that Johnson and BART police simply have too much baggage to engage in a productive antibias training.
“It seems inconceivable to me that a woman who has lost her son at the hands of a BART police officer could overcome her pain, anger, resentment — try as she might — to engage meaningfully with these officers,” Cordell said. She added that the officers may also be defensive or even inhibited from expressing their feelings, lest they offend Johnson.
Cordell, however, favored the idea of Johnson speaking to officers as part of a larger antibias program.
Board Director Janice Li said she has an open mind about collaborating with Grant’s family on trainings.
“The fact that Wanda has shown up time and time again — it shows how far she’s willing to be engaged,” Li said. “I think it’s powerful.”