- For some of the rhetoric
that was used by RPOA,
as well as your office,
in terms of with city council
was looking to do
really put the community in a
killer mindstate
and lock me in as their target.
I was literally in the middle of trying
to bring everybody
closer to the middle.
And that's not what they saw
because that's not
what they heard from their chief.
They heard from the chief
that Demnlus was trying to get rid of
thirty five officers,
not listening to anything
that she had to say
and trying to cripple her
from being a successful police chief,
especially with her
being our first Afro
Latina police chief.
My relationship with
a lot of community members
are over.
I don't even know if I have a
future in this city anymore.
- So I want to first
start by apologizing for-
if my actions contributed
to the loss of trust
that you had with-
with the community.
So I'm sorry for that.
- I appreciate that.
- From my perspective...
You know, hearing you now
and hearing you say,
you know, the chief and I'm thinking,
did I ever say dimness?
And I did not. - You did not.
- But I always talked about counsel
and I tried to do that in terms of
not singling any person out.
But I see how that could have been
detrimental to you,
as opposed to saying, well,
Demnlus is trying to,
you know, weigh both sides
and come to some middle ground,
which I did appreciate the fact that,
you know, you weren't trying to
defund me by 10 million,
you know, but you did feel
like there should be some money
coming from the police department
to support these other measures.
But also, from my perspective,
I was trying to save my department.
- And that's the part I understand.
- And the resources.
- That's why I never
badmouth them in public,
because I knew what
you were trying to do. - Yeah.
How have my actions during the budget
cut proposal hurt
you in ways
I may not fully be aware of?
Oh. - Oh, that's a question
- That's probably the hardest
question of the day so far.
- That is a question.
I didn't feel as though there was
the slightest bit of understanding
in terms of the position
that I was in, in
terms of trying to bring two polar
opposite communities together.
You trying to save a department?
I'm trying to save a city.
- Well, I mean, I have
the community's interest too,
because I'm
I frankly have been very concerned
about my ability
to succeed as the chief
with this reduced and continued reduced
because it wasn't
just reduced this year,
my budget, but last year, too.
And so I'm like,
you know,
all these people are counting on me.
Am I going to be able
to keep people safe in our community
with half the resources that we own?
- Right. Which is... - That previous chiefs have done.
- That's a problem that we both share. - Right.
- So, that's...
that's what I'm getting.
Like your problems are my problems.
But then also I have
also in looking at the
totality of the city
and a lot of the rhetoric
that was shared on both sides.
I don't mean to sound
like Donald Trump,
but it was you know, it was both sides
just made it so difficult and...
I'm just going
to speak specifically
to the black community,
because that is my base,
that is my heart,
that is the reason why I got in this.
When they see
our African-American chief
with stars and bars
saying these things about the council,
they're not- their immediate thought
doesn't go to my colleagues.
Their immediate thought goes to the guy
who they gave money to,
the guy who sat in their church,
in their homes,
and he knocked on their doors
and had these conversations with.
And so I- like I said, I overstand.
You were trying to
protect your department
and you were trying to make sure
that you can do your job to the utmost.
Shit, we black.
Like people look
for us to mess up in our job.
What is something that I
don't fully understand
about the position
that you've recently been in,
and why do you think I don't?
That's a good follow up question.
- That's a good follow up question.
I would say
because it says fully understand,
I think that you understand
some of the dynamics that I'm facing
internally because of the conversations
that you've had with
with Sergeant ______
before his passing and others.
But I don't think
that you understand
the full dynamics of it.
And... - Right.
I don't think I can.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
I was going to be
a hundred percent honest,
like even when even as
he was explaining it to me,
it was just like... - Yeah.
And if you look back,
the two previous
African-American chiefs that we've had
did not leave on their own terms.
- Right.
- So I'm constantly have that
in the back of my head, too.
I mean, I want to leave Richmond
on my own terms.
I want a retirement party. And... hey! You know? - Right!
- I did my time... - All the bells and whistles, yes indeed.
- Right. I want to leave on my own terms.
And then the other thing is,
I have a family to support.
I have a family to,
you know, take care of.
And...
So things are difficult all the time.
- Yeah. - Very difficult.
If you could go back to the first round
of budget proposals, what advice
would you give yourself
regarding the vote to...
the vote to come?
- Try, but don't be upset,
don't be upset like you were right,
that they didn't
meet you in the middle.
Don't get upset when they-
when it doesn't happen, but still try.
- Yeah. - Mm hmm.
My thing is I mean, obviously
there's a lot of things that
didn't go my way in this,
but I'm always committed
to come back to the table
because we have a job to do
despite it.
I think what I feel-
felt throughout this budget cycle,
and it was residual feelings
from the last budget
cycle, is that I as
the police chief, as the
subject matter expert,
was never asked
in the time...
You know, how is this going
to impact the community?
I think our shared concern
is public safety for the community.
So...
I don't know, I just the taking action
that's going to significantly impact
the police department
without asking me what that impact is.
Even if you're still going
to do it, at least,
you know, just get all the information,
what you know,
how it's going to impact,
you know? - And I-
And I would like to apologize
if I didn't take the time
to use my privilege
as a councilmember
to bring you in in those conversations
in a greater capacity
to really explain
and get what you needed:
people to understand, to understand.
So I do apologize for that.
And I do apologize
for not making sure
that you had as much time
as other people had in explaining
why they wanted to do
what they wanted to do.
So I sincerely apologize for that.
- Thank you.
- What have I done
that has inspired you?
I'm sorry.
I just gotta say that for me
that's weird, actually,
because I don't see myself
as an inspiration. - Oh, my gosh.
C'mon Demnlus, I mean you ran for...
I mean, you were
nowhere on scene in
terms of people knowing you
and you all of a sudden
decided to run for city council
and got the most votes.
Like, if that's not inspiring,
that's showing
that you put boots
to the ground, like we say,
and you got people to believe in you.
And they do believe in you.
And you've been, you know,
doing what you said
you're going to do once
you got elected. So... - Thank you.
That's very inspirational.
And that's especially inspirational
for these young people that,
you know, think that politicians
are 40, 50 year olds
and then they look at you and like, oh,
okay, I can do that! Look at you, you did that!
You just came out of nowhere.
I mean, I knew you,
but you came out for a lot of people.
You just came out of nowhere.
- I agree. I agree.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- So what do you think drives me?
- Love.
Love for your family.
Love for the people of Richmond,
love for Richmond.
I really do feel like love drives you.
Like when I
see you out on the beat
or when I see you,
which your family is,
you look happy.
Even, you know, even
with all of the things
going around is like
I really do feel as though
like love is one of those things
that really drives you. - Yeah.
That's absolutely correct.
I'm a Cancer, so...
Family and love... yeah.
- What about me?
- What drives you?
- What do you think drives me?
- I think your love for the community
and your service to the community
and your love for black people
and wanting to do something different.
And, you know... - I'm a Scorpio.
We love hard.
Very passionate people.
- Yeah.
What have you learned from me?
What I learn from you is...
In spite of it all, remain poised.
I've never seen you
yell, I've never seen you upset.
I've never seen you led
any line of questioning
that any person from any side asks you
throw you off your square.
That's what I admire
the most, is your ability
to not only look like
you keeping it together,
but to actually keep it together.
Yeah.
- What I've learned, though, is that
especially in my profession,
and working with, you know,
mostly males and
and people that want to see you off
your game that I learned
very early that I couldn't
let them see me sweat,
because if they knew how to get to me,
then they'll keep antagonizing
and getting to me.
So I, I learned early on to try to,
you know, mask that
emotion, not all of it,
because I do show emotion,
but I try not to let them see me sweat.
- So you got to fight that
emotional woman stereotype,
especially... - Yeah. - Oh!
-Yeah. - And that's what I'm saying:
Even if you sat here
and explained to me
everything that you were going
through in your position,
some things I just wouldn't
be able to understand.
So like I once again appreciate you
in what you do.
I still have a lot of love and respect,
not only for your position,
but for you as an individual.
- I appreciate that.
Thank you. - Of course.