A Word From Juan Peralez

Unidos was created in Seattle in 1991 as a result of Chicano/Latino community organizations and individuals wanting to promote dialogue and more importantly working relationships amongst social, political and business groups.  The goal was to find common ground that would permit the community to coalesce its energy and commitment towards goals that would produce positive concrete changes benefiting the Chicano/Latino community.

Dialogue and finding common ground is key to effectively addressing the issues that negatively impact the safety and well being of our community residents. 

Unidos has been addressing the issue of white supremacy and police accountability over the last decade.  To educate, create awareness and understanding of white supremacy Unidos has conducted public forums and has hosted authors like David Neiwert who published, “ The Age Of Insurrection; The Radical Right's Assault on Our Democracy “, Jessica Pishko’s book “ the Highest Law In The Land; The Unchecked Power Of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy and Michael German who wrote “ Policing White Supremacy; The Enemy Within “.

 Unidos is a member of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability that works on sponsoring legislation that will change the culture of policing by promoting transparency, accountability and building much needed trust between police and marginalized communities.

Unidos is currently working on a program that promotes a trilateral dialogue amongst law enforcement, community advocates and state legislators.   The goal is to no longer work in silos ( police and community advocates ) in preparation for policing legislation for the next legislative session.   This model leads to wasting time in  amending the legislation proposed while working under time constraints.  It also creates the appearance that police and communities are working against each other.  Dialogue and collaboration between the two is what is needed to save lives of both community and law enforcement members alike.

The trilateral dialogue approach to creating mutually agreed on legislation on police accountability when the legislature is not in session can be achieved in a calm setting with no time constraints. Law enforcement and community advocates get to know each other  better as well as understanding each other's concerns. It will save time in Committee hearings and allows for more legislation to be heard.  More importantly, it will build much needed trust that will allow law enforcement to do their job with the community’s support.

Through the trilateral dialogue approach there is much that can be accomplished in changing police culture for everyone’s benefit and safety in less time.

Law enforcement should be extremely concerned about the element of white Christian nationalism within their agencies as it endangers the lives of the rank and file who do not agree with the ideology. 

Finally, given our current political environment, Legislators in Olympia concerned with the public safety of Washington residents must address the issue through legislation.