SPD holds community conversation

SANDPOINT — Police Chief Corey Coon covered an array of topics Friday in a hastily arranged online question-and-answer session following last week’s peaceful protests and the presence of armed civilians on downtown streets.

“This was late notice for this first conversation and we apologize about that. But we wanted get this one kicked off because we’ve been having a lot of questions from the public lately about incidents around the country, preparedness with the Sandpoint Police Department, protests within the city of Sandpoint and response to protests,” city Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said in the webinar over Zoom, which was streamed live on the city’s Facebook page.

Coon took more than a dozen questions posed in Zoom’s chat function and via email.

Coon began the conversation by expressing his department’s appreciation for demonstrators who peacefully protested against systemic racism and police brutality in America.

“By maintaining a peaceful protest, the message being shared by each and every one of you has been heard loud and clear. We respect the everyone’s First Amendment rights to peacefully assemble and share their concerns,” said Coon.

Coon also addressed rumors that members of the group Antifa — a portmanteau of anti-fascist — were planning to come to Sandpoint or were already here in order to escalate protesting into rioting and looting. Coon said officers investigated the reports, which turned up on social media, and consulted with officials in Kootenai and Spokane counties, in addition to the FBI, and determined that the rumors were unfounded.

Nevertheless, Coon said his department will remain vigilant.

“It’s something we as a community still have to be diligent and prepared for,” Coon said.

Coon mischaracterized Antifa as a “hate group.” President Donald Trump seeks to have Antifa designated as a domestic terror organization, although the Southern Poverty Law Center does not consider Antifa a hate group and said a terrorist classification would be a threat to civil liberties.

Social media rumors about Antifa apparently prompted armed patriot and militia groups to show up at Tuesday’s Black Lives Matter protest on the U.S. Highway 95 Long Bridge. The group’s members said they were there protect the protesters and protect property if malignant forces tried to infiltrate and inflame the protest. Citizens with semiautomatic rifles and sidearms kept watch over downtown businesses on Tuesday night, which they had done on Monday night in Coeur d’Alene.

Coon was asked if the city could shut down protests or shoo away armed civilians.

“The short answer is no,” he said

The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees peoples’ right to peacefully protest, while the Second Amendment guarantees peoples’ right to bear arms, Coon noted.

Coon said he did not believe the protesters or the armed citizens had any malevolent intent.

“I think their intentions were honorable,” said Coon.

Coon, a lifelong Bonner County resident, said he personally knew many of the students and young adults who protested, in addition to the armed patriots who also showed up. However, he admitted that people from outside the who come here to protest or defend property are something of an unknown quantity.

“It’s a little more concerning when we bring people from outside the area that we don’t know because it’s harder to discern who is there is there with good intentions or who’s there just to – on either side of the aisle – start a fight. That’s where we really need to develop those relationships with organizers,” he said.

Residents and business owners asked how they would be notified in the event of trouble and what sources of information they could deem credible. Stapleton said the city does not post official statements and advisories to outside Facebook groups.

“That’s not how we’re going to push out official communication. It’s going to be on our official sites and official pages,” Stapleton said, referring to the city’s Facebook pages and its website.

Stapleton added that official communications are also posted to the city’s Engage Sandpoint mobile device application and Nixle, which pushes text notifications to phones and email accounts.

Coon was also asked if the city, which has 20 officers, had the manpower to quell a mass disturbance. Coon conceded that his officers could be outnumbered depending on the size of the crowd, but said officers from surrounding agencies in North Idaho and Idaho State Police could be called upon to thicken ranks if the need arose.

The city was also asked if officers receive training on deescalating confrontations and implicit bias, which involves attitudes or stereotypes that affect officers’ understanding, actions and decisions in an unconscious manner.

Coon said all officers are trained in crisis intervention training for safely dealing with people who are in the throes of a mental health episodes. He added that additional training on implicit bias would be worthwhile.

“I believe it’s an area where we can improve,” said Coon.

Coon said the city has worked hard over the years to reshape the culture of the department to one that is closer to the community and less adversarial. He also urged citizens on both sides of any particular issue to reach across the divide and try and gain a better understanding of another person’s position.

“One of the things that I would challenge our community to do is really look at all issues on both sides and find common ground on both sides,” said Coon.

More than 150 people signed into the Zoom discussion and Stapleton said the city may double back to delve deeper into policing in Sandpoint, in addition to setting up discussions with other departments within the city.

The hour-long Zoom video is posted to the city of Sandpoint’s Facebook page (facebook.com/cityofsandpoint).

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.