1. If elected or re-elected to the city council, will you propose programs and/or initiatives to limit the number of arrests for minor offenses in the city?
Littles:
Truly understanding that incarceration only addresses the consequences of crime, but not the causes, it will be highly important to promote and advance prevention and intervention strategies that cut crime and incarceration.
2. If elected or re-elected to the city council, will you support a pre-booking diversion program for drug-related offenses and for those suffering from mental health issues
Littles:
Diversion programs create an alternative path for people who are at risk of arrest or incarceration. Instead of going to jail, people are diverted to a broad range of coordinated services, from housing supports to counseling to treatment for mental illness and substance use. In contrast to post-trial programs like drug courts, diverting people earlier helps them avoid criminal records that can cause lasting harm, such as inability to obtain jobs, housing and stable family relationships.
Pre-booking diversion: enrollment in a pre-booking diversion program occurs after an arrest but before a person has been officially “booked,” or processed, for the arrest. The most prominent pre-booking diversion model is Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD).
Pre-arrest diversion: referral to diversion programs through community outreach before a person gets into trouble. Proactive community outreach is an approach already used by many health and social service organizations, but these programs are often narrowly focused. In a pre-arrest diversion program outreach may be done by front line police officers or by outreach workers who connect individuals with the full range of services they need to avoid arrest
IObjectives
1. Successfully develop infrastructure and services aimed at diverting individuals with behavioral health needs away from jail to appropriate community-based treatment.
2. Implement effective community strategies to better serve individuals in psychiatric crisis, safely reduce the prevalence of individuals with behavioral health needs in local jails, and reduce costs related prosecution and incarceration.
3. Demonstrate a collaborative and coordinated system-wide approach among local behavioral health providers, law enforcement, and the judicial system within the community to pre-arrest diversion.
Participating cities and counties each have it’s own LEAD agency accordingly.
Shelby County Lead Agency: Alliance Healthcare Services
Key Partners:
Memphis Police Department including the CIT Officers
Shelby County Government including the Mental Health Court and Public Defenders Office
Memphis Fire Department
Western District of TN Probation Office
Local hospitals
3. If elected or re-elected to the city council, will you support a policy to require transparency and democratic accountability before city agencies acquire new surveillance tools?
Littles:
4. If elected or re-elected to the city council will you work to make stop and arrest data, including race and ethnicity data, available to the public quarterly?
Littles:
5. If elected or re-elected to the city council what will you do to ensure a timely, transparent and independent investigation whenever an officer uses deadly force?
Littles:
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation currently investigates all cases of officers using deadly force, As City Councilman, I will advocate for transparency from TBI.
6. Name 3 steps you would take as a council member to make the Community Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) more effective.
Littles:
The Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board (CLERB) is an independent 12-member civilian agency with the authority to investigate allegations of misconduct filed by citizens of the public against the Memphis Police Department (MPD). CLERB has the power to receive, investigate, hear cases, make findings and recommend action on complaints regarding excessive and deadly force, injuries occurred while in police custody, harassment by police, improper arrests, inadequate investigations, or any other improper conduct by a member MPD. All complaints are thoroughly investigated and findings are reported to the Memphis Police Department.
1) Set goals
2) Ensure there is a true representation via a thorough vetting process
3) Experience and/or exposure to the training as to have a clear perspective of what Officers (ride alongs)
7. Would you support policies, programs or initiatives to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline?
Littles:
The motivation behind the start of my non-profit community work was the mere fact that I wasn’t supposed to be here. The environment and the various negative factors that I encountered growing up could have led to me being anywhere but where I am right now.
Current policies have increased the risk of students being suspended, expelled, and/or arrested at school. Youth of color in particular are at increased risk for being ?pushed out? of schools—pushed out into the streets, into the juvenile justice system, and/or into adult prisons and jails.
Our non-profit currently works with SCS in an intervention initiative to reduce and/or eliminate in-school suspension and expulsions thus acting as a prevention of the school-to-prison pipeline via positive engagement and character development education.
Also the PAL initiative that we have brought to the communities bridges the gap between the cop, kids & communities.
8. What does criminal justice reform mean to you?
Littles:
Decreasing the prison population, reducing prison sentences that are perceived to be too harsh and long, alternative sentencing policies, policing reform, reducing overcriminalization, and juvenile justice reform.
Criminal justice reform is aimed at fixing perceived errors in the criminal justice system. Goals of organizations spearheading the movement for criminal justice reform include decreasing the United States' prison population, reducing prison sentences that are perceived to be too harsh and long, altering drug sentencing policy, policing reform, reducing over criminalization, and juvenile justice reform. Criminal justice reform also targets reforming policies for those with criminal convictions that are receiving other consequences from food assistance programs, outside of serving their time in prison.