Tuesday night the City of Lubbock Community Engagement Task Force held their first forum in the Lubbock High School cafeteria.
More than 150 citizens, community leaders and city representatives attended the meeting which focused on answering questions the public had about our city and police department.
“I think it was a great first step,” Mayor Pope said. “The turnout exceeded my expectations. I think we had lots and lots of questions and comments.”
Mayor Pope along with Police Chief Greg Stevens came up with the idea for the task force in response to increased tension among citizens and peace officers.
“I think that where we have a break down is unmet expectations and lack of communication,” Chief Stevens said.
More than 25 people spoke at the podium or asked questions on comment cards. Many of those questions having to do with race relations in Lubbock.
Dr. Amanda Banks reading out loud a question that asked: ‘How many African American officers are there on the force? And what attempts are there to ensure patrol cars have at least one person of color when patrolling neighborhoods that are predominately inhabited by people of color?’
Many others had questions about police training when it came to deadly force, de-escalating situations and dealing with mental health patients.
“A lot of questions around police training,” Mayor Pope said. “Maybe it would be valuable to spend a few minutes and talk about what the continuum is and how we go about that.”
Mayor Pope said he is happy with the way the meeting went, although he will learn from the session and make some adjustments for future meetings.
The forum ran out of time, leaving some questions unanswered but Mayor Pope said they would answer the questions and post them on their website within the next week or so.
