- The name “Eci” means warrior in Idoma.
And in our tribe names are your destiny.
And so the idea that
there was going to be advocacy
and fighting for what's right,
and justice
that those were going to be a part of,
like the theme of my life
were kind of written
in from the beginning.
My name is Eci Ameh.
I’m the Executive Director
of the Community Police Commission.
I'm a first generation
Nigerian immigrant.
So my parents immigrated
from Nigeria specifically to study.
My dad came first.
He got an
industrial engineering degree
and an aeronautical engineering degree.
He drove a taxi every single day
from 6 p.m.
till 6 a.m.,
and then he went to
classes all day long.
And that was how he saved up to be able
to to bring the family to the U.S.
I knew that I was really compelled to law.
I mean,
it was one of those things, like,
everybody always told me,
you're going to be a lawyer.
I would adjudicate cases
when I was a kid with, like,
a meat tenderizer and
then like a little table.
But when I got to law
school, I was more interested
in the systems.
And how can I do things
that are impacting the law?
So for me,
my journey to public service
was really an identification
that I wanted to make a bigger impact.
And thinking about how my training
as a lawyer
and how my identity
as a first generation immigrant
and all of these things that,
you know, have become a part of me,
can contribute towards
something that's much broader
and greater.
CPC has a really unique role,
and in a lot of ways,
it is the most important part
of the police accountability system
because it is meant to amplify
the voices of those
that are most impacted by policing.
That is,
many communities that experience
policing very differently, than others.
And so CPC's
role is to make sure
that those perspectives are heard
in police policies and practices.
Our policy team provides
policy analysis and review,
and we work with a 15-person body
of commissioners,
those commissioners,
are volunteers. They’re community leaders.
Our team works with those commissioners
to be able to provide
review of policies, to provide
feedback, to go out and,
do engagement of communities
and then provide policy recommendations
to decision makers.
CPC's job is not to restore public
trust in the Seattle Police Department.
That's the Seattle
Police Department's job.
CPC's job is to make sure
we are communicating to SPD
what it looks like to earn back
the community's trust.
Here in CPC,
we have a diverse team
that is brilliant, that is talented.
They are all experts in their own areas.
So I always talk about this.
We are the Ninja Turtles.
You need the entire team
working together
in order to make things work.
I think we can do so much better work
for communities,
when we are a healthy
and high morale team.
If you don't have this type of balance
in teams, you don't have success.
I'm definitely a Raphael.
I mean, come on.
(Laughs)
But I don't need to be all things
because that's what the team is for.
[♪♪]