COLORADO SPRINGS — Some of the police protesters in Colorado Springs will be going face-to-face with Colorado Springs City Council during a special work session Tuesday.
"It's not too often that you see a protest go into the offices," said protester Robbie Johnson. Council and community activists are working together on a Civilian Oversight Committee proposal for the police.
Johnson is part of a group calling themselves Back to the People. They recently approached city council with ideas for the Civilian Oversight Committee.
"It's a well thought-out proposal that has a number of different aspects to it to try and make things better in our community," said City Council Member Wayne Williams.
Williams says the protests expedited a process that started at the first of the year with another group of minority activists. They are sometimes referred to as the Austin group, because they traveled to Austin, Texas, several months back with city leaders for a conference on police and community relations. “We’ve been involved already before some of the protest began.”
Both activist groups will present ideas on creating a Civilian Oversight Committee to Colorado Springs City Council at Tuesday’s special session. If they can agree on ideas, City of Colorado Springs staff will be instructed to draft an official proposal that will go through the formal public process.
The special works session is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. There are COVID-19 distancing rules in place for council chambers.
