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DETROIT (WJBK) - Detroit's police chief has a candid conversation with the community, holding an open forum inside a barber shop and streaming the whole thing live on Facebook, giving everyone a chance to ask questions and voice their concerns.
Craig, members of the community and some local barbers got together at Executive Cuts for some real talk.
While Detroit Police Chief James Craig sat in the chair getting a haircut and other gentlemen received the same service, they shared some serious dialogue, and personal experiences.
"Police just literally rolled up on me like, 'Put your hands on the car.' I'm walking out of my girlfriend's house and I'm being harassed," said one man.
"Here's the bottom line, what happened to you was wrong, flatly wrong," Craig said. "I have no idea why they stopped you. But let's say they did get a call, I think you would have felt better about the stop, if they would have told you that."
Craig is starting a show on Facebook called Real Talk. In many cases, especially in the black community, local barber shops are a place for men to come together and express how they feel about everyday life.
"From sports to politics, to what's going on in the city from the police department to the mayor's office, to everything," said DeAngelo Smith, a local barber.
"Get a nice haircut and get a nice conversation without all of the riffraff that you get from when you go into the inner parts of the City," said customer Terrence Hopson a local barbershop owner.
FOX 2: "People from all walks of life, people in the neighborhoods to the professionals?"
"Absolutely," he said.
With having these conversations, it's also important for the everyday person to understand the perspective of a police officer. Two hometown and well-respected men who served our City were recently killed in the line of duty.
FOX 2: "How relevant do you think it is given the tragedies here in Detroit and this week's presidential election, a lot of tension?"
"It's a lot of tension," Smith said. "But that's why it's important for you to sit down and have dialogue and be able to talk."
"To be able to voice your concerns instead of just looking in TV being mad about everything that's going on in the city," said customer Alan Heath.
"We want to be on the ground, in the community, not scripted, having real talk with the police chief and the police department and just, let it rip," Craig said.
Craig said his plan is to take this real talk to other barbershops throughout the city on a weekly basis.