Because public safety matters to us all
Original Nov 2016, updated Jun 2020
Among the many problems facing our country, police use of deadly force may be one of the most serious and confusing. Often these happen when police respond to a call about a person of color, usually Black, behaving suspiciously. The ‘perpetrator’, in fear because of other Blacks killed by police, resists or tries to flee and the police kill them as well. George Floyd, Tamir Rice, Ahmaud Arbery and Eric Garner are some of the many African Americans who have died this way. Other times they begin with simple traffic stops; an officer pulls a driver over for a small infraction like a burned-out tail light, which quickly escalates to arrest, tasing, or death. Philandro Castile, Sandra Bland, and Robert Scott are just a few examples.
CNBSeen’s FIRST EVENT is this weekend, April 24th, 2021!
With no quick or obvious solution to the problem the response for many is to watch in impotent horror, but a Portland-based non-profit is stepping up to try to reduce the number of these incidents. CNBSeen has the mission of changing burned-out vehicle lights for free in neighborhoods with a high number of police stops, in the hopes of reducing the number of potentially fatal encounters. Tom Dwyer Automotive was a sponsor of CNBSeen when it was just beginning, and we’re proud to be with them once again as build funding to start operations. Sadly, the need for CNBSeen has only grown since we first met them in 2016, so we thought we’d re-introduce you to the founder Don Merrill, tell you a little more about CNBSeen, and maybe even give you a way to get involved yourself…
Another way deadly force is employed by the police is when a person is pulled over for a small infraction like a burned-out tail light, which quickly escalates to arrest, tasing, or death. Philandro Castile, Sandra Bland, Robert Scott and many other Black people have died this way. There’s no quick or obvious solution to the problem and the response for many is to watch from the sidelines in impotent horror. But a Portland based non-profit is stepping up to try to reduce the number of these incidents. CNBSeen has the mission of changing burned-out vehicle lights for free in neighborhoods with a high number of police stops. We are proud to be sponsors of CNBSeen as it begins conducting its first events so we thought we’d introduce you to Don, tell you a little more about CNBSeen, and maybe even give you a way to get involved yourself.
For some people a burned-out taillight is a minor maintenance issue but for others, it’s the first step toward a potentially deadly confrontation. Don Merrill, with a long history in news and media including years with Armed Forces Radio and Television and as a Federal Government public relations specialist, wanted to see if there was something, anything that could be done to reduce these deaths. Although public outpourings of sympathy for these killings seemed notable, he was tired of impromptu-street corners shrines covered with rotting flowers and stuffed animals dotting the landscape.
In 2016, after the shooting of Philandro Castile in Minneapolis, Don made a simple plan to go into neighborhoods where the highest number of police stops occur and replace their burned out tail lights for free. He was further inspired by Unity Autoworks owner Brandon Jefferson who started offering free replacement bulbs from his Minnesota shop in July 2016, Mr. Jefferson’s response to the death of Philandro Castille. When he and Don talked together about their respective solutions, Brandon’s thoughts closely mirrored Don’s own feelings about the project: “We can’t fix everything, but this is one less reason for people to get pulled over.”
You can hear Brandon’s ambivalence, and he’s actually out there changing bulbs! It’s a feeling that has become familiar to Don as he introduces the idea of CNBSeen to a wider audience. “When I tell people about it I get two reactions… the first is ‘Wow, what a great idea!’ The second is ‘But that won’t really fix the problem, will it?’” And of course, it won’t. We’ll never know if Don’s program saves even one life by preventing one unnecessary traffic stop. But we do know it will keep attention on the problem and help keep the conversation going toward a solution. Besides, as Don said, “Anything we can do other than sit on our couch and bitch is better than nothing!” This will get a lot of people off their couches.
The plan back them was to reach out to potential partners like churches or other neighborhood organizations to find a place to hold bulb-changing events. The Humboldt Neighborhood Association and the Portland NAACP all agreed to support CNBSeen. Those events would happen at preannounced times and locations in targeted neighborhoods and ideally, with the corporate support of bulb providers. For the actual day-of, volunteers would show up with a supply of the most commonly used bulbs and replace burned out bulbs free for all comers. If a vehicle needed a bulb that CNBSeen didn’t have, the owner would be issued a card for the cost of the bulb that could be given to any participating auto shop or auto parts store.
An idea is one thing, but simple or not, making it real is something more. As he was already working on a book five years in the making, Don realized he couldn’t give his new idea and his ongoing authorship the same effort so he put CNBSeen on hold. In the meantime life ruthlessly intervened; his parents died while his wife had cancer and then open heart surgery. With the book now finished, Don realized that if covid-19 was not enough to stop social justice efforts in the wake of the killing of George Floyd it was also a perfect, terrible moment to revisit CNBSeen. In 2016, a good friend also told Don that Tom Dwyer Automotive was a good place to find professional and socially responsible help. Since police and judicial abuse have been so important to Tom for so long, they were eager to lend their support. In 2020, Tom Dwyer is recommitting to Don’s vision.
Work continues on the nuts-and-bolts of a bank account, registering with the State of Oregon, registering with the Oregon Department of Justice and submitting an (expensive) application to the IRS for 501(c)3 non profit status. In the meantime, there is a GoFundMe account under the name CNBSeen that, as of this writing, is about a quarter of the way to its modest, $2500 goal. Friends have told him this is the moment to ask for much more (and you should feel free to go above-and-beyond!) but Don also doesn’t want to appear opportunistic. He believes the problem is an old one and moving toward a solution must happen at a speed no faster than people can come to trust it. “If they want to give more, fine. But, they bring whatever they can to the idea whenever they’re ready,” he said. “I’m not pressuring anybody. I’m just doing what I can.”
Set against the tragedy of all too frequent and questionable shootings and death, CNBSeen is easy to dismiss because we know from the outset that it can’t solve the problem it was created to solve. But it exists because another problem, the problem of apathy is being challenged by at least one person. By taking a stand he’s spreading that solution, and that’s a success for CNBSeen no matter what the future brings. We are pleased, privileged, and proud to announce we’re helping Don Merrill to light a small candle rather than curse the darkness.
If you’d like to learn more about CNBSeen, we have a few things to direct you to. The website is CNB-Seen.org, but maybe the most important link to visit is this one…
Here is the link to the CNBSeen GoFundMe campaign.
To dig deeper, you can hear Don Merrill explain the details of CNBSeen and the motivations behind it in a podcast from Hatch Innovation “Changing Taillights to Avert Tragedies”. You can also see Don (and a representative from Tom Dwyer Automotive) in this panel discussion organized by The Remedy Club. On Twitter, you can follow Don at @CNBSeenNow. If you’re on Facebook, look for CNBSeen. On Instagram, the handle is @cnbseenforjustice.
