Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Commission

Board Details and Roster

About

Mission

The mission of the Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Commission (LETAC) is to make recommendations to City Council which would promote improved understanding and relationships between the police department and the public.

Vision

A city that values and solicits input from all Colorado Springs community members with its police department, as the foundation for transparent and inclusive service-oriented policing. We envision a community built on mutual trust between the Colorado Springs community and its police department.

Goals

To accomplish this, the Commission will:

provide a conduit for the concerns and needs of both citizens and the police department to be shared and discussed with City Council;
analyze and provide feedback to City Council with other policy recommendations; and,
assist City Council with budget, appropriation, and resource allocation recommendations utilizing data-driven audits of law enforcement performance.

Background

At a Special City Council Work Session June 16, 2020, City Council directed staff to move forward with forming the new advisory committee tasked with bringing policy recommendations to City Council, the Mayor and the Colorado Springs Police Department.

On June 23, 2020 City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance to create the Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Commission. It was approved by a vote of 8 to 1. On July 13 City Council passed the second reading, approved by a 8 to 0 vote.

Enabling Authorization - Ordinance 20-44

Contact

LETAC@coloradosprings.gov

719-385-5540

Upcoming Meetings

Regular Monthly Meetings

The Commission typically meets on the first and third Monday of each month from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Please check the Agendas and Minutes tab for upcoming meetings. Members of the public may attend in person or remote via Microsoft Teams:

In Person: City Hall, 107 N Nevada, Suite 200 (Pikes Peak Conference Room)

Microsoft Teams*: Check agenda for link to join

*Microsoft Teams Meetings – Anyone requiring captioning must join via software instead of the browser. Currently capability does not exist on Teams to join via the browser. In other words, you must download the Windows App when or prior to joining. In accordance with the ADA, anyone requiring an accommodation to participate in this meeting should make the request as soon as possible but no later than 48 hours before the scheduled event.

2024 Meeting Schedule

Tuesday, January 2, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Tuesday, January 16, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Monday, February 5, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Tuesday, February 20, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Monday, March 4, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Monday, March 18, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Monday, April 1, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Monday, April 15, 2024 - 6 - 8 p.m.
Monday, May 6, 2024 - 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, June 3, 2024 - 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, July 1, 2024 - 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, August 5, 2024 - 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, September 2, 2024 - 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, October 14, 2024 - 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, November 4, 2024 - 5 - 6:30 p.m.
Monday, December 2, 2024 - 6 - 7:30 p.m.

Initiatives

Listening and Learning Initiative

2021 1st Quarter Topics

Communication (January 19 / February 1)

How could CSPD’s approach to communication with the community more effectively build and maintain trust between law enforcement and citizens?
What improvements (website, online, face-to-face, etc.) are being made to increase CSPD transparency?
What data about Colorado Springs policing do members of the community have an interest in but are not readily available now?

Racial Bias (February 16 / March 1)

To what extent does racial bias influence policing in Colorado Springs, and how is it best addressed?
To what extent are CSPD interactions with racial minorities different than those with racial majority populations?
What training is in place to minimize bias? What evidence do we have that such training is effective?
What screening occurs at the level of recruitment to promote equitable treatment of citizens and minimize bias?

Crisis Response (March 15 / April 5)

What approaches to crisis response (procedures, policies, models, etc.) have been adopted by CSPD? How do we know they are effective?
From the perspective of overall public safety, how do we effectively allocate resources between traditional policing (which would require an armed response to a call for service) and crisis response (which would not)?

Use of Force (April 19 / May 3)

Are the use of force policies and practices sufficient to best meet the needs of our community?
To what extent are mechanisms for accountability sufficient to promote public safety?
When law enforcement investigates itself, how do we ensure there is minimal conflict of interest?

NOTE: LETAC also approved the convening of additional monthly Listening Sessions to augment the ‘Listening and Learning’ process. Citizen comments at these sessions may lead to consideration of additional topics and/or re-prioritizing of those listed above.

View adopted Listening and Learning Q1 topics (PDF)

Adopted Listening and Learning Framework

Learn about LETAC's process for the listening and learning initiative

Commissioners

Deb Walker, District 1

1st Term - Sep 22, 2020 to Sep 24, 2024

Deb Walker currently serves as the Regional Community Engagement and Public Affairs Manager for Ting Internet. Her career has been in the local nonprofit community most notably as Director of Strategic Partnerships at The Independence Center, advocating for civil rights for people with disabilities and as the executive director of Citizens Project, an organization that advocates for equity, inclusion, and justice in the Pikes Peak region. In that role she became involved in policing transparency and accountability advocacy. She feels strongly about equipping community members to understand and advocate on behalf of the issues affecting them

Jim Mason, District 1

1st Term – April 12, 2022 to September 29, 2026

Retired Colonel, US Army and later Parsons Corporation, Colorado Springs, CO. A native of Conway, Arkansas, Mason relocated to Colorado Springs after retiring at Heidelberg, Germany culminating a distinguished 30-year Army career. His military service was comprised of worldwide troop assignments with Infantry units, which encompassed both command and staff duties. After retirement from the US Army on 31 October 2005, Mason joined SPARTA Incorporated, later acquired by Parsons as a Defense Contractor, providing engineering system analyses and technical consulting in support of integrated ballistic missile defense system planning.

Sherryl Dillon, District 3

1st Term - April 11, 2023 to September 29, 2026

Sherryl moved to Colorado Springs from New York City over 30 years ago. Since then, she has served as Secretary, Vice President, and President during her two terms on School District 12’s Board of Education, as well as six years on the CO Association of School Boards, representing 11 school districts and serving on CASB’s Legislative Subcommittee. She received her MPA from UCCS in 2017, holds a BA in Sociology and completed an additional two years studying criminology in graduate school. She has been the executive director of the COS Police Protective Association since 2015, and prior to that, managed a local medical practice. As a community member, parent of four children, and professional, Sherryl feels strongly that she can serve as a bridge between law enforcement and the community with unique insight and knowledge to be shared with her fellow commissioners.

David Noblitt, District 2

1st Term - March 12, 2024 to September 30, 2025

David moved to Colorado Springs in 1985 after his Air Force firefighter tenure. His retirement in 2021 as a fire lieutenant, following 40 years in the fire service, culminated with 25 years serving the City of Colorado Springs Fire Department. He has been part of outreach ministries within the city for over 23 years and brings a solid perspective on multiple demographic groups within our community. Besides enjoying life with his wife of 30-plus years, he is pursuing a master’s in theology/history to support community engagement and ministry outreach.

Rachel Flick, District 3

2nd Term - Sep 22, 2020 to September 23, 2025

Rachael Flick, MAC, is a trauma therapist and licensed counselor. Her late husband, El Paso County Deputy Sheriff Micah Flick, was killed in the line of duty, arresting a suspected car thief. Rachael is a single mother of twins, a speaker, podcaster, author, and community advocate. Rachael is working to bridge the gap between the public and the police through communication, transparency and cultural transformation.

Dr. Andrew Hoskins, District 3

1st Term - March 12, 2024 to September 29, 2025

Dr. Hoskins, DBA, is the COO at The Exodus Road, an anti-human trafficking organization based in Colorado Springs. He is a graduate of CONO’s Neighborhood University and has focused his career on serving vulnerable populations. He is a Certified Coach (ACC - ICF), a change management practitioner, and the author of Leading Multicultural Teams: The First Five Tools for Global Leaders.

Janice Frazier, District 4

2nd Term - Sep 22, 2020 to September 23, 2025

Janice “JJ” Frazier has been active in the Colorado Springs community for many, many years. She is a graduate of Widefield High School and holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Entrepreneurship and Small Business Operations from Colorado Technical University (CTU). She has had a distinguished 40-year career in public education with Widefield School District 3 and Colorado Springs School District 11, in Colorado Springs, CO, and the Detroit Public Schools in Detroit, Michigan. As Chair of the Board of Directors, she has led the Urbanites Leading the Pikes Peak Region, formerly known as the Urban League of the Pikes Peak Region since 2012. Currently, Ms. Frazier serves as Vice President of the Harrison School District 2 School Board in southeast Colorado Springs, and formerly served as chair of the Law Enforcement Transparency and Advisory Commission from 2020-2022.

Christopher Burns, District 5

1st Term – February 28, 2023 to Sep. 28, 2025

Chris retired from the Colorado Springs Police Department in 2022 after 24 years of service. During his career, he worked in multiple positions including patrol, school resource officer, police training officer, crisis negotiator and helicopter pilot. While a full-time police officer, Chris also worked a parallel career as a Colorado National Guard Army Officer, from which he also retired. In this capacity, he served multiple homeland security positions, Command positions and an Iraq Deployment as a helicopter pilot. Chris continues to remain active in the community as a board member on two human trafficking nonprofit agencies as well as being a local refugee resettlement volunteer. He also coaches’ youth wrestling and Judo. Chris’ desire to contribute to LETAC comes from his personal experiences while on the CSPD and his desire to be a counter voice to the local and national movements against police officers.

Johnny Taylor, District 5 (Alternate)

1st Term – February 28, 2023 to February 24, 2026

Johnny Taylor 63 years old lifelong resident since 1965 of Colorado Springs self-employed since 1984 want to see CSPD be the better part of the community.

Nathan Whittington, District 5 (Alternate)

1st Term - March 12, 2024 to March 23, 2027

News

Jan. 19, 2021 - The Colorado Springs Law Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Commission begins the Listening and Learning Initiative
Nov. 18, 2020 - Podcast: What Does LETAC stand for?
June 24, 2020 - Podcast: Law Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Commission
June 23, 2020 - Media Advisory: City Council approves Law Enforcement Transparency and Accountability Commission
June 17, 2020 - News release: Application process now open for new Police Accountability Advisory Committee
June 12, 2020 - Podcast: Police Advisory Committee
June 12, 2020 - Mayor Suthers’ statement to City Council on the creation of a Police Advisory Committee
June 10, 2020 - Podcast: Mayor Suthers and Police Chief Niski
June 8, 2020 - News Release Mayor John Suthers Lets Curfew Expire; Praises Peaceful Protesters and Police
June 3, 2020 - News Rease: Mayor Suthers Enacts Curfew for Colorado Springs from Wednesday Night to Monday Morning