Winston-Salem Officials Soliciting Citizens to Participate in "Trust Talks"

The Winston-Salem Police Department is looking for people to participate in a program that is designed to help improve the communication gap that exists at times between law enforcement officers and the community.

In 2012, officials with the city's human relations department were approached by former Winston-Salem police chief Scott Cunningham to improve communication among law enforcement and the public and to help build a strong sense of community.

Three to four trust talks will take place in 2014. Community members and police officers will meet in small groups to work through areas that may need addressed, such as stereotypes, the role of race, and issues that may impede people from speaking with police about their knowledge of a crime or investigation.

The police department will then collect their suggestions and concerns and use the information as training tools for officers.

“Anytime that we can set down and talk is always a benefit for both sides. A lot of times there is mistrust because of a lack of information, so we can also get information out to the public. That is probably the best benefit, says Winston-Salem police chief Barry Rountree.

Rountree added, “It's about like when people come in and they participate in the citizen police academy, because a lot of times it is a misunderstanding of the rules and laws, but once they understand the reason behind it, they understand why the officer didn't do x y and z, but did a, b and c.”

Wanda Allen-Abraha, director of the city's Human Relations Department, is working with the police chief to make sure the applicant pool is as diverse as possible.

“We ask participants very direct questions about barriers that they may see, and any concerns that they may have that are individual to maybe a sub- population. For instance, if we have people who are disabled in any way. We may have clergy, the elderly, the homeless or sex offenders there. It's just various sub sets of the population who may have unique vantage points,” says Allen-Abraha.

Applicants must reside within the city limits of Winston-Salem and be at least 18 years of age. The first trust talk for 2014 will take place in the spring.

For more information, contact Pam Peoples-Joyner of the city's police department at 773-7962 or Jayme Waldeck of the Human Relations Department at 734-1228.