Church to host race relations forum with law enforcement, public

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – One local organization is bringing the community together to talk with law enforcement officials about race relations. Tuesday’s discussion will feature members of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office and Indiana State Police.

The goal is to create positive dialogue with police and community members.

The inspiration behind this meeting started with the executive director of ILA’S House, Tricia Edwards. Her organization helps give people the life skills they need to succeed in the world, including working with ex-offenders. She wants representatives from law enforcement to speak candidly about race relations and have the community ask questions about police procedures.

Some questions Edwards expects to hear will be about the recent police shootings across the country, racial profiling, how to help the youth in the community and how to act during traffic stops. Edwards says knowledge is power, and officers coming out to talk to the community are invested.

“We still need to have a talk,” she said. “There are conversations that need to continue. We started it, but it needs to continue. Other organizations are doing these type of discussions, but we need to continue. There’s just so much information that people just don’t understand; they don’t have everything they need to know, so bringing the community together, bringing the police together, bringing these agencies together to try to help and get that information out there to try and get those people to understand.”

Edwards says come ready with questions. You will be able to write them down for the panel and then they will be read out loud.

It starts at 6 p.m. at Christ Temple Church at 430 W. Fall Creek Parkway N. Drive. Click here for more information.