Community Leader: Building Up Trust With Police Possible
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The string of recent violence continues in some Pittsburgh neighborhoods.
Several people have been shot and killed in the past week.
Last night, the city's new police chief spoke out about how officials plan to curb the violence.
Chief Cameron McLay talked about improving and building relationships with community stakeholders.
Today, a community leader in the Hill District said it will be no easy task, but building up trust is possible.
The recent bloodshed in the City of Pittsburgh has renewed fears in several communities. There have been multiple homicides in the last week including, 17-year-old Eric Young, who was on his way to high school when he was shot.
Rev. Glenn Grayson, whose own son was murdered, is immersed in the Hill District community. He could be a perfect participant in Police Chief McLay's initiative to tackle street violence by building better relationships with residents and community leaders.
"They're incredibly frustrated when we know who's responsible for this, or we know that the community knows and they're not comfortable telling us or they don't trust us enough to tell us or they're afraid to tell us for fear of violence," McLay said.
Chief McLay spoke at a public safety meeting in Hazelwood Tuesday night. He said a small number of individuals are responsible for over 69 percent of the homicides.
However, those people won't be brought to justice without help.
Rev. Grayson agrees, but said people need to feel safe and need to have trust in police.
"We do need to take people off the street who have taken lives, who are hurting people. So, people have to come forward. But, we have to have a level that the system is going to support us and protect us if we come forward," Rev. Grayson said.
Rev. Grayson also feels that diversifying the police force will have a huge impact in addition to more sensitivity training.
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