Community Engagement Through Data and Other Strategies

Community engagement is critical to police oversight and accountability.  As stated in the 21st Century Taskforce final report, data collection, supervision, and accountability are part of a comprehensive systemic approach to keeping everyone safe and protecting the rights of all involved during police encounters.  Without data, the community and police cannot engage in productive dialogue to address systemic issues that challenge relationships.  Ongoing research and data collection and analysis are also necessary to knowing what works and what does not work, which policing practices are effective and which ones have unintended consequences and allow for informed policy amendment recommendations. 

Join us July 27, 2017, 1:00 p.m. EDT as we focus on data collection tools police departments and community members can use to come to consensus on appropriate policy strategies and training opportunities that will lead to improved relationships between the community and police.  Participants will learn how various communities developed reporting mechanisms from police data that provide information on use of force, police discipline and other common areas of concern raised by community members - and that allows for confidentiality and the context necessary for informed and appropriately targeted advocacy.

Speakers:

Lieutenant Colonel Mark Ecton

Lt. Colonel Mark E. Ecton is a lifelong resident of the city of Dayton and attended Dayton Public Schools. Lt. Colonel Ecton began his law enforcement career in 1986 with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. Colonel Ecton later joined the Dayton Police Department and graduated from the Dayton Police Academy in September of 1987.  He began his career as a patrol officer in the West Patrol Operations Division, serving in the same neighborhoods where he went to school and grew up. He also did tours of duty in the East Patrol Operations Division, Central Patrol Operations Division, Mounted Horse Patrol Unit, Crime Scene Investigations Unit and the Narcotics Bureau Strike Force.

Lt. Colonel Ecton was promoted to sergeant in 1998 and served as: East Patrol Operations Division supervisor; Communications Bureau supervisor; Aide to the Administrative Services Superintendent; Internal Affairs Bureau supervisor; and Department Advocate. In 2002, he was promoted to the rank of Major and served as the Superintendent of the Professional Standards Division and the Administrative Services Division. In 2011, Lt. Colonel Ecton was appointed to the position of Chief of Staff and managed the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Chief of Police. He was also responsible for Strategic Planning; Professional Standards; Inspections and Audits; Homeland Security; Dayton Regional Bomb Squad; and Technology.

On August 17, 2015, Lt. Colonel Ecton was appointed and assumed the position of Deputy Director and Assistant Chief of Police for the Dayton Police Department.  He currently manages the day-to-day operations of the Dayton Police Department.

Shannon Isom

Shannon TL Isom has been the CEO of YWCA Dayton since December 2013.  Isom is responsible for the executive and administrative leadership of the YWCA Dayton, which strives to eliminate racism and empower women.  Likewise, she is responsible to ensure high quality outcomes, financial sustainability, organizational viability, and exceptional client service delivery. The nonprofit has played a pivotal role in shaping the Dayton region. Before joining the staff, she served as a YWCA Dayton board member for almost four years, with the last year and half as Chair of the Board.

Isom began her professional career working for the YWCA in Columbus as a Manager of a trial program in conjunction with the CDC and YWCA USA to ensure marginalized women had access to breast and cervical screenings; it is now a staple in our communities.  With over 15 years in the health industry, she has worked for Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Women's Health Division, Miami Valley Hospital, Premier Health Partners and CareSource in areas of Sales, Business Development, Systems Integration and Business and Clinical Integration, respectively. 

Mrs. Isom has had extensive post-Baccalaureate education through The Ohio State University and Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. She has a BS of Biology from Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia and an MBA in Healthcare Administration from Northeastern D'Amore-McKim School of Business in Boston, MA. Awards bestowed include: 2009 DBJ Forty under 40, Leadership Dayton, DBJ 50 Most Powerful Women 2014 & 2015, 2016 WiBN Top 25 Women to Watch, and 2015 DBJ Forty Under 40 Alumni Hall of Fame.

Isom is an active participant of her community, including numerous committees, boards and initiatives.

Richard Stock

Dr. Richard Stock is the Director of the Business Research Group (BRG) at the University of Dayton, (since 2001).   He has been at the University of Dayton since receiving his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 1986.   BRG provides economic analysis and program evaluation primarily in the social service and government sectors as part of the School of Business Administration at UD.   Dr. Stock’s academic training was in urban economics. He has 33 years of experience in economic analysis, program evaluation and market research.  He forecasts the regional economy periodically as part of that work.

 Dr. Stock’s primary focus is program evaluations in the education and behavioral health areas.  Of particular interest are evaluations for the Montgomery County Preschool Promise Demonstration project and Children Matter Montgomery County, (a system of care initiative for children with behavioral health issues).

Lori White

Lori White spent 18 months managing a variety of projects for Public Safety Director Troy Riggs before moving into her current role as the Executive Director of the Citizens Police Complaint Board/Citizens Police Complaint Office in September 2014.  She attends the NACOLE (National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement) national conferences to bring back trainings in Body Worn Video, Use of Force and Biased Policing, etc. for the Citizens Police Complaint Board members and CPCO office staff.  She also serves on NACOLE’s Scholarship Committee.

Since September 2014, White has overseen an overhaul of how complaints and allegations against police officers are tracked with the use of Internal Affairs Pro so complaint trends can be identified and any “red flag” behavioral issues can be identified and addressed in a timely manner.  The CPCO also served on the committee to revamp the IMPD’s discipline process.  The CPCO launched an online complaint form in June 2015:  http://tinyurl.com/IndyCPCO .

White is also project lead for the City’s participation on the White House Police Data Initiative to use technology to bring more transparency to police and oversight operations.  Indy has posted three sets of Police Open Data (Complaints, Use of Force and Officer Involved Shootings) on our national model http://data.indy.gov/  site.  In April 2016, she presented a review of Indy’s model of collaboration between civilian oversight and the IMPD in opening the police data at the White House to the participating police departments and community partners.