Tacoma Police discussing officer involved shootings to build trust
Oct 6, 2016, 6:04 AM | Updated: 7:03 am
There have been 12 officer-involved shootings in the last four years, and Tacoma police want to talk about it.
The department opened up to the community, trying to build transparency and trust. They unveiled the newly reported stats at a forum Wednesday night.
Police showed the community how police received 147 complaints last year. They also said 12 people were shot at by officers in the last four years. Eleven of those officers who opened fire were white.
“We are actually going through implicit bias training, and fair and impartial training,” said Police Chief Don Ramsdell
Ramsdell said he hopes the new information, and telling the community what is being done with the info, creates a dialog between his officers and the people they police.
He especially hopes to improve relations before there is a controversial officer involved shooting like others seen across the country.
“The time to have this relationship, and build that trust, is prior to something like that happening,” Ramsdell said.
However, at the meeting, citizens questioned if showing numbers is enough. Many said they needed to see more information about what the officers are doing to de-escalate conflict, more quickly address complaints and investigate officer involved shootings when they happen.
The chief said getting that feedback was also important.
