HALLANDALE BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Dozens of community members attended a Hallandale Beach forum, Wednesday, dedicated to addressing and fixing tensions between police and the community.
Recent police-involved shootings have strained relations between law enforcement and the public. Hallandale Beach has decided to take the issue head on. “Starting in Hallandale, we’re racially divided, we’re socially divided, we’re economically divided,” said Hallandale Beach Commissioner Anthony Sanders.
Sanders is hoping that by starting a conversation about race relations, a solution can be uncovered. Sanders organized a panel in hopes of building a bridge between law enforcement and the people they serve. “We know that as law enforcement, we must do better,” said Hallandale Beach Police Chief Dwayne Flournoy. “The different diverse communities, we must do better.”
Flournoy was joined by local religious leaders, school representatives, the State Attorney’s Office and the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Any systematic change has to be all-encompassing,” said Juvenile Division Assistant State Attorney Maria Schnider.
“What else can we do as a community?” asked resident Barbara Brown.
Brown attended the forum with her son with the goal of education in mind. “You need to know what to do as a young black man,” she said.
Brown is reminded of the recent North Miami police-involved shooting of Charles Kinsey, an unarmed behavioral therapist who was shot as he assisted a patient with autism who police believed was armed. “That could have been my son,” she said.
Sanders and Flournoy said that while there is a long road ahead of them, they hope this is a step in the right direction.
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