Bottom line: Nothing about this is easy. 

In keeping with similar conversations happening across the country, a Port Townsend radio station hosted a panel discussion July 30 during which figures in the local Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities posed questions to Jefferson County Sheriff Joe Nole, shared personal experiences, and aired concerns on race relations and law enforcement. 

The discussion, conducted via Zoom and broadcast live on Facebook and radio, was hosted by KPTZ (91.9 FM) and moderated by Darrell Thomas, a Bremerton resident who works as a probation officer for the Jefferson County Juvenile & Family Court Division. 

Panelists included Sabrina Hill, representing the Indigenous perspective, Cameron Jones of Black Lives Matter of Jefferson County, and Victor Paz. 

Port Townsend Mayor Michelle Sandoval and Interim Police Chief Troy Surber were also in attendance.

In the opening remarks, County Commissioner Kate Dean said the panel was “one little baby step” in a much larger, longer process and called on those in authority to be open to minority perspectives. 

“The White folk who work at the county, your elected officials, White progressives, have a lot of learning and listening to do and we have to explore the way that white privilege pervades our lives and our communities and be willing to hear from the Black, Indigenous, People of Color in our community when they tell us all is not well,” she said. “We have to hold our elected officials, myself included, accountable for our actions and our inactions.”

Dean acknowledged the limits of her own inherent perspective before thanking the panelists and giving a warning of the potentially uncomfortable nature of the discussion to follow. 

“I am a privileged White woman in power and I hope to use my position and my accountability to every person in Jefferson County, as your elected commissioner, to help break the cycles of institutional racism in all the ways that I can,” she said. 

“But make no mistake,” Dean added, “the goal tonight, as discussed at length with the BIPOC panel ... is to center this conversation on the experiences of brown people in Jefferson County, to amplify their voices, which are often dismissed or silenced, and, in the words of one panelist, to burst the white bubble that is progressives thinking that we as a community are any less racist than other places.”

Even the structure of the panel itself and its limitations, according to the moderator, carried some cultural baggage. 

“As we attempt to get clarity and answers on some of these questions our panelists have today we are using Western colonized structures to attempt to do this,” Thomas said. “[The] BIPOC community normally gets together without time constraints and rules that society has deemed as quote-unquote normal, or the way that these conversations need to work.”

The sheriff said he was looking forward to the discussion and thanked the panelists for sharing their perspectives.

“For the most part, I think we all want the same things,” Nole said. “We all want fairness, recognition, compassion, security, justice, and peace.” 

Ultimately, topics discussed included the potential biases and accountability of individual officers, the department’s de-escalation training policy, and crime reporting procedures and statistics. Also, panelists related experiences — both personal and those confided to them by others — of instances of prejudice and racism in Port Townsend and Jefferson County, and posed questions about divisive incidents and investigations of years past. 

The sheriff took the opportunity to publicly declare solidarity with the local arm of Black Lives Matter.  

“I want to make sure that I publicly say that I agree with many of the ideals that are expressed by Black Lives Matter of Jefferson County and I’m glad — I don’t know if that’s the right word — I’m glad there is an organization [here],” Nole said. 

“I recognize and acknowledge Black Lives Matter of Jefferson County and the pain and suffering endured by People of Color throughout many years. I apologize for any part that I may have played in those hardships through inherent biases that I’ve accumulated over the years of my life as a white person, and I’m learning what systemic racism is and it has no place in government or anywhere else,” he added.

Representing Black Lives Matter of Jefferson County, Jones, an area resident since 2013, opined such discussions, though potentially beneficial, were ultimately limited in their power to bring about change. 

“I want to state clearly and unequivocally that this whole conversation with law enforcement is somewhat problematic,” he said. “Our goal at BLM is to empower organizations and individuals within the community who are taking or plan to take anti-racist action that shifts the paradigm from white supremacy to that of inclusivity, and to only have the conversation with law enforcement not only feels perforative but also entrenches us within this narrative that generalizes law enforcement as an institution that is fundamentally good and righteous and solidifies their power within the white-hetero-patriarchy framework. 

“We do not believe that law enforcement [is] by default good and righteous, the contrary in fact,” Jones added. “Law enforcement as an institution, with its origins in slave patrols, can only be viewed as an inherently racist institution. How can an inherently racist institution be a leader or even contributor to both policy changes and cultural shifts necessary to create an actively anti-racist environment? Simply put: It can’t.” 

Jones said he preferred a system wherein “it’s the people who have the power and wisdom and compassion to police themselves.”

“We all need to step up and stop pushing our responsibilities on those who have a vested interest to protect and serve those in power and not the most marginalized in our communities,” Jones said. “And since so many White folk in Jefferson County seem to be blind to the fact that BIPOC people do live here, and we do, and [think] that there might not be racism here - there is - what I’m trying to do is burst that bubble.”

Jones shared the stories of two acquaintances, People of Color, and their experiences in Jefferson County, including one Black woman who has lived here for three years and is “constantly being welcomed to the area as if she’s a novelty item.”

“She’s been under the white gaze her entire life, which has only been amplified since moving to Jefferson County,” he said. “She’s been belittled for trying to start a business, experiences daily micro-aggressions, and when she tries to explain this to people they either treat her like ‘the angry Black woman’ or say she’s just reading into it too much.”

Hill began her initial remarks saying it was “an honor to be the Indigenous voice on this panel.”

Indigenous people are, she said, significantly more likely to be killed by police than White people, citing the prominent examples of John T. Williams, who was shot and killed by Seattle police in 2010, and Stonechild Chiefstick, who was killed by Poulsbo police last year. 

“We know too well what it’s like to lose our people at the hands of authorities,” Hill said. “Indigenous and Black people have suffered the atrocities of colonization for over 500 years and we are tired of watching our people be abused or die at the hands of those who are sworn to protect and serve.”

Hill also raised the issue how crimes against Indigenous women are handled, saying though they are far more likely to be assaulted or even killed, such crimes are tragically underreported. 

“One in three Indigenous are victims of assault and most go unreported,” she said, reiterating that Jefferson County is “surrounded” by Native American reservations, but many also live outside those areas, in the adjacent communities. 

Sheriff Nole remained agreeable and encouraging throughout the discussion, saying that although he is by and large proud of the work done by the department, there are obviously areas in need of improvement both inside and outside to ensure greater equality in all aspects of life in Jefferson County. 

“I think there needs to be greater flexibility for sheriffs and police chiefs to hire and promote law enforcement officers who are best suited to carry out the agency’s mission and binding arbitration needs to be reformed to provide greater authority to dismiss officers who are not helpful to the agency’s mission or betray the public’s trust,” Nole said. 

“We need to invest in the community with regards to equitable, affordable housing, healthcare, behavioral healthcare, substance-use disorder, education, finance and jobs for all,” he added. “We need economic justice that ensures salary equality and fair hiring practices. I believe in the protection of First Amendment rights and that we all have the right to peacefully assemble and make our voices heard.”

“I also agree that vigilantism must not be tolerated and violators need to be held accountable,” Nole added. “I believe that white supremacy is not acceptable and that our community needs to hold each other accountable ... to ensure that this is dealt with swiftly when it’s identified.”