GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Green Bay Police Department is continuing its efforts to have a conversation with members of the community.
An event called “A Place at the Table” was held at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay Thursday.
The goal of the event is to give the students, faculty and staff at NWTC the opportunity to build positive relationships with local law enforcement.
NWTC student M. J. Hunter spoke to WLUK.
“I think it’s amazing. Not a lot of people get this opportunity with the police from their community” Hunter and other students listened to a presentation by the Green Bay Police Department.
One of the topics included a police officer’s use of force. The discussion offered examples like officers use force to prevent escapes, or to defend others.
“The dialogue will continue about the use of force and understanding that and, again, what the process is that police have to go through when making those split second decisions,” said Mohammed Bey.
Bey is the NWTC’s Diversity & Inclusion Director. He and Green Bay’s police chief, Andrew Smith, say events like this one are needed and necessary.
“I think the only way we can really do our jobs as police officers and to do our job here in Green Bay is to really connect with the community, work together at them, have that mutual respect so that they are willing to partner with us”
The event also helped officers and community members to learn from each other. Smith says that’s what happened last year when NWTC and Green Bay police held a similar event.
“Some of them were really eye opening for me, learning what their concerns were, answering the questions about why police did the things that they did”
Smith says his department will continue to hold similar events in the future.
