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Syracuse Police Department Partners with Faith Community Regarding Conduct

St. Louis Public Radio

A group of Syracuse pastors and ministers are partnering with the police department to open a dialogue about any questions concerning police conduct. They say they're hoping to avoid the disconnect that led to the deadly encounters with police in Ferguson, Missouri and New York City. Pastor Daren Jaime of People's AME Zion Church hopes monthly meetings at churches across the community will clear up and confusion about the law.

Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler reflects, "Dialogue is always extremely important. We know that the location, Ferguson, has come up a number of times and one incident ignited a series of incidents at Ferguson. An asset from that entire equation was the dialogue. It's important to form and build relationships before and outside a moment of crisis. And that's what we're doing here."

Credit carnegie.org
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carnegie.org
Syracuse police make efforts at building relationships with the community

Syracuse Police Chief Frank Fowler says it's about establishing a level of comfort with residents who are skeptical of the police. The monthly meetings will begin in November.  

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.