A new partnership has been reached in Wayne County to improve relations between the police and the communities they've agreed to protect and serve, as protesters plan another night to demonstrate against police brutality and racism.
The leaders of cities in western Wayne County are launching a listening tour to bridge the gap between police and communities.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Western Wayne County cities form conference to hear from residents about needed reform
The Conference of Western Wayne county (CWW) and represents 700,000 residents. Leaders from the cities say the time to act is now.
It's called the Conference of Western Wayne County (CWW) and represents 700,000 people and Gina Steward with the NAACP of Western Wayne County said every Black family has had the same conversations with their kids about what to do if they see police. She said the community meetings are for residents to share their concerns about policing and put an end to those conversations with kids.
"Ask any black mom and they will tell you a story about an encounter her son had with the police - that's the same. The difference is that people throughout the world now witnessed the encounters," Steward said."We want to make sure that the talk that black and brown parents have with their kids is no longer needed."
She was joined by many other representatives from police in Inkster, Livonia, Northville, and Dearborn, to name a few. Westland Police Chief Jeff Jedrusik said the time for action is here.
"Believe me when I say there is nobody that dislikes a bad police officer more than the good ones. They tarnish our reputation and they ruin our communities' trust.," he said while condemning the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis Police officer.
"The disgust that you felt watching the George Flloyd video, we felt that same disgust when we saw it. It was despicable," he said.
The first meeting of the listening tour is later this month in Livonia this group. You are invited to attend but because of COVID-19, seating is limited so you must register here. They're all vowing to be leaders in the state when it comes to policing, and any police reform needed.
"When bad things happen people must learn from them, we must develop ways to fix concerns and fix problems. That is what we're here to do," Jedrusik said.
CWW and Western Wayne Police Chiefs represent: Belleville, Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Garden City, Inkster, Livonia, Northville, Plymouth, Romulus, Wayne, Westland, Canton Charter Township, Huron Charter Township, Northville Charter Township, Plymouth Charter Township, Redford Charter Township, Sumpter Township and Van Buren Charter Township.