Statement from Rev.

Kevin Ross on behalf of Sacramento ACT Faith 

Leaders: 
  
As a pastor serving in Rancho Cordova, it is my moral obligation to 
watch over, protect, and stand up for the most vulnerable in our 
community. I am also a stakeholder and bridge builder committed 
to safeguarding the community’s trust, along with my fellow Faith 
Leaders in Sacramento Area Congregations Together. 
  
At a most vulnerable period in world history, at a time when social 
distancing has been mandated across all 50 states, and throughout 
the world, when decarceration has been authorized for low level, 
non-violent offenders in the interest of public health, a “Problem 
Oriented Police” Officer in Rancho Cordova pursued an unarmed 14 
year old boy for suspected possession of a tobacco product and 
rather than counsel the teen, he chose to beat him. 
  
In what Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Sgt. Tess 
Deterding called, “proactive policing”, Officer Fowellattacked and 
beat 14 year old Elijah Tufono, pounding his face to the ground and 
punching him repeatedly, as the helpless teen tried to protect his 
body from the onslaught of an armed man who is sworn and paid to 
“serve and protect.” The millions of outraged Americans who 
viewed this video are not wrong in their characterization of this as a 
criminal act. If we witnessed this behavior from anyone else — an 
armed grown man beating a child in public – we would demand his 
arrest, especially, if the child was a white boy. Is a 14 year old Black 
and Polynesian boy any less a minor because of his race? Shouldn't 
this child be afforded the same protections under the law? 
  
Is this the Rancho Cordova Police Department’s idea of proactive 
policing? Are they implying that because the young boy was not 
killed by the officer, that this was not excessive use of force? 
  
In the midst of a global pandemic that experts tell us 
disproportionately impacts people of color, must we also be the 
subject of a double pandemic? It is traumatizing enough to 
experience our loved ones dying at unprecedented rates, our places 
of worship closed, our small businesses grossly unaided by the 
payroll protection bail outs, our below minimum wage jobs 
disappearing and our kids bored and restless because our 
under-resourced schools are last to get started with 
distance-learning programs. Must our community also have to 
cringe in fear that our restless, out of school children, will be the 
subject of public beat downs by law enforcement?   
  
Officer Fowell must be held accountable. The first step is to remove 
him from the force and charge him with criminal assault and 
endangerment of a minor.   
  
We know how important it is to Chief Kate Adams to have the 
community’s trust. Acts like these destroy all efforts at building this 
trust. Until real, meaningful, and swift action is taken to hold officers 
accountable for reckless abuses against our community, we cannot 
encourage our community to trust they are safe on her watch. 
  
This community needs proof that the leadership of the Rancho 
Cordova police department will not hide behind the blue wall of 
silence, but will break through this wall and stand with the 
community and the millions calling for justice, and set an example 
for what happens when a police chief fiercely protects all the 
children on her watch - even a 14 year old Black and Polynesian boy 
named Elijah Tufono. 
  
  
By Rev. Kevin Kitrell Ross 
Sacramento ACT Board Member 
Senior Minister 
Unity of Sacramento 
Rancho Cordova, California