Local Panel On Relationship Between Police and Citizens

Community members and those from the law enforcement came together at Salve Regina University to discuss the strained relations between police and the communities that they serve.

The event titled ”Uniting NOT Dividing: A Dialogue on How Black and Blue Should Not Hurt” was a panel of 5 included state police superintendent Steven O’Donnell and Baltimore Police officer and former Salve Regina student Nathan Rose and was moderated by Daniel J. Knight a former FBI special agent who taught criminal justice at the university.

The panel discussed how and why communities and police have been struggling to communicate and understand the pressures under which they both live. Police doing a difficult job and those in communities of color having dealt with ”years of mistreatment ” by ”a few bad apples” says Rose.

“This is not textbook Tuesday, we are going to hear some real stuff today, these conversations are uncomfortable.” said Kobi Dennis, executive director and founder of Project: Night Vision, a program for inner city youths who along with Sami Nassim, the director of multicultural programs at Salve Regina and Toby Ayers, executive director of Rhode Island for Community and Justice also served on the panel.

The gathering at O’Hare Academic Center was only the first of three different discussions taking place on this issue around the state. Dennis say there will be two more panels in the next month in Pawtucket and Providence.