Days of Dialogue, Los Angeles: Police Community Relations in the Aftermath of Micheal Brown and Ezel

Days of Dialogue on Police-Community Relations in the Aftermath of Michael Brown and Ezell Ford.

On October 31 and November 1, 2014, community members in South Central LA and neighborhoods nearby gathered at the Dr. Maya Angelou High School and the Augustus Hawkins High Schools in Los Angeles to mediate tense relationship between community and police in the aftermath of two majorly publicized police shootings of allegedly unarmed young men of color, including Ezell Ford.a known mentally ill young man from South Central Los Angeles. I participated as a dilogue facilitator in this restorative process.

The forum was attended by over 200 people over the course of the two days. Community members shared a range of emotions and thoughts regarding the current policing practices, made recommendations for ways in which practice and relationships could improve and many expressed hope and a desire to participate in creating positive change.

Here are links to the two reports (one for each day) which include candid responses from community members and police, survey results, photos, plus community comments:

http://www.daysofdialogue.org/d74555hod.html

http://www.daysofdialogue.org/rpts/103014.pdf

http://www.daysofdialogue.org/rpts/110114.pdf

and some news coverage:

http://www.thefrontpageonline.com/articles1-15494/AsofTodayAvisRidleyThomasLeadsTwoDaysofDialogueall