Harris draws on past to ‘reimagine’ policing
When SACRAMENTO,CALIF.— Kamala Harriswon her first election for San Francisco district attorney in 2003, the office’s relationship with the city police force was in tatters. She promised to rebuild trust, but the goodwill didn’t last.
Three months after Harris took office, a young city police officer was shot and killed. Harris quickly said shewouldn’t seek the death penalty for his killer, instead opting for life without parole. She’d run as a death penalty opponent, but hermove surprised and angered police.
“Thiswas a symbolic thing tothemof respect,” saidDebbieMesloh, Harris’then-communications director. While Harris made it her top priority to win a conviction for the officer’s killer, her relationship with police was “really challenged for a long time.”
Harris sometimes struggled to navigate her complicatedrelationship with police when she sought the Democratic presidential nomination last year. Law enforcement leaders never fully embraced her, and some progressives also viewed her warily.
She’s getting a second chance as Joe Biden’s running mate, having joined the Democratic ticket at a moment of deep reckoning in the U.S. about policing and systemic racism. She’s drawing on her past to take a leading role in the campaign to counter President Donald Trump’s argument that Americanswould be less safe under a Biden presidency.
In themonthsince shewas nominatedforvicepresident, Harris has largely focused on the reforms she and Biden would implement if elected andspokeninpersonalterms about nationwide protests against police violence.
“We need to have serious police reform,” Harris said at a recent fundraiser. “Joe and I are very clear about this.”
Neither Harris nor Biden support “defunding” the police, but Harris says the country needs to “reimagine” what policing and community safety look like. She often sayswell-funded public schools, good-paying jobs and high rates ofhomeownership also make neighborhoods safe.
Her perspective is shaped by her experience in California,
where she faced competing interests.
Harris’ rocky start in San Francisco was still on officers’ minds when she ran for state attorney general in 2010, and the largest law enforcement organization in the state representing rank-and-file officers backed her Republican opponent. But when Harris eked out a victory, she immediately reached out and began a listening tour with officers across the state. Four years later, the officers’ group backed her for reelection and also supported her 2016 race for U.S. Senate.
Michael Durant worked with Harris from 2013 to 2017 as head of that group, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, and said the two had an “unbelievable relationship.” When her office created implicit bias training for officers, she asked for Durant’s input. When the Legislature created a boardto oversee racial profiling in policing, Durant’s organization had a spot on it.
“We did not always agree on everything, and she came up with some things that were maybe deleterious,” Durant said. “But she always reached out to us and always gave us a seat at the table.”
Durant, who retired and nowlives in Missouri, said he plans to vote for Trump. But he does not believe Trump’s claims that Biden and Harris would wreak havoc on police departments.
“I am not of the belief she and Joe Biden are going to bankrupt every lawenforcement agency,” he said.