We Will No Longer Partner with Police Until We See Progress on Reform...

The main reason we open physical stores is to be active participants in the communities we inhabit. We, obviously, open our doors to the general public, but we also make an effort to work with a vast array of community members and groups -- schools, non-profits, artists, musicians, and on and on and on. 

Along those lines, we have partnered with police education programs -- mainly a bike safety program for kids in the summer -- and have donated to police fundraisers in the past.  

But police behavior and posture toward BLM organizers and protestors, especially in our home city of Des Moines, has made that partnership with the DMPD untenable. Their tactics have been unnecessarily heavy-handed and violent, even in the face of peaceful protest. 

Instead of realizing this as a time for change and common ground, the police have often proved intractable. 

We will need to see meaningful police reform before we partner with or donate time or money to any police department. 

*Top photo from The Register