RICHMOND, Va. – An impromptu roundtable discussion moderated by CBS 6 anchor Bill Fitzgerald tackles challenges facing our community in the wake of recent police and police involved shootings.
The conversation features the perspective of the Richmond Police department with Richmond’s Deputy Police Chief Steve Drew and two community leaders.
Deputy Police Chief Drew, Tiffany Jana, CEO at TMI Consulting Inc., a Diversity & Inclusion Strategy Consulting Firm and Jonathan Zur, President/CEO at Virginia Center for Inclusive Communities, talk about what can be done to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and citizens of all colors.
This comes after a week where two black men were shot to death at the hand of police officers and 11 police officers were shot during a protest in Dallas Thursday.
The first shooting took place Tuesday morning in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old man, was shot to death as he laid on the ground with two police officers on top of him. A video of the incident, which was posted to social media, has sparked national outrage.
The second incident took place Wednesday in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.
Philando Castile, 32, a kitchen supervisor for the St. Paul School District, was shot and killed after a traffic stop. The immediate aftermath was recorded on Facebook live by a woman in the car.
In the Facebook video, the woman identified the woman as Diamond Reynolds said that Castile is licensed to carry a firearm. She claims that before the shooting, her boyfriend was trying to get his ID from his wallet in his back pocket.
Thursday night a gunman targeting police officers opened fire in downtown Dallas, killing five, and injuring seven more, during a protest against police violence.
The suspect told police negotiators that he was upset about recent police shootings and he wanted to kill white people — especially white officers, according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown.
