Shawana Booker
Police Commission Application: Supplemental Questionnaire
1.Please describe any life work and significant community volunteer experiences that prepare you to contribute to the work of the Commission.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, I have extensive history providing family and individual therapy as well as community mental health to children, adults and families across the Bay Area. I have been an Oakland resident my entire life (minus when living on campus for 1 year while a student at UC Berkeley and a few months in middle school when I lived in Alameda), nevertheless this is my home and has always been my home. My dedication to keep families and the community safe and mentally healthy has always been a priority. I have worked at youth and family homeless shelters, in schools, in Alameda County juvenile hall, child crises (5150) centers, and mental health clinics. As the Director of Trauma Transformed my primary role is to work with large systems (public and private) to ensure that the culture, policy and practices are trauma informed and do not cause harm to the staff or the recipient of the service/care. Daily we train and work with systems such as Alameda county to implement practices and create sustainable structures that result in healing environments for all of us. As a therapist I understand the needs and challenges that the officers might have as well as the needs and challenges of the community and I am fully equipped to make decisions and review policy and situations from a lens that is fair and equitable with focus on what is best for the City of Oakland.
As a therapist I am trained, and have years of practice, meeting the needs of the community I am in service to without prejudice or bias.
2. Please describe your contacts or experiences with the Oakland Police Department.
My personal experience with OPD has been diverse over the years. As a young person in the 80’s I witnessed OPD aggressively interact with community members. As an adult and homeowner there have been a number of times I have been happy to have access to officers that have been kind and responsive to my concerns whether it was to report a crime or safety concern.
3. Please describe, if applicable, if you or an immediate family member has had significant volunteer or employment experience: as a police officer, as a criminal prosecutor or defense attorney, with a public agency or nonprofit community group serving or advocating for crime victims or persons charged or convicted of crimes.
Not Applicable for myself or any of my immediate family members.
4. Have you ever served on a board, committee, commission, or other group? (Examples might include church boards or school organizations.) Please describe your experiences.
What were the most challenging aspects of your participation? I served on the board of Eastbay Church of Religious Science. The most challenging aspects were when the head minister had a request which as a Board we would implement and then the procedure would not be followed or when there was disagreement around which changes to practices/protocols to implement. I enjoyed the professional collaboration of utilizing the various levels of member specialty and expertise to reach a goal in service of the community even when there was disagreement because it allowed us to view a challenge from multiple perspectives and come to a shared consensus while recognizing the polarity of every decision.