Local

Local church teams up with Atlanta police to discuss trust within the community

By Larry Spruill
By Larry Spruill

ATLANTA — A local church is teaming up with Atlanta Police to build trust and get through to young people in our communities.

They held a meeting Tuesday where Atlanta Police officers met at Salem Bible Church for their daily roll calls, but this meeting was different. Channel 2′s Larry Spruill was inside the church LIVE on WSB Tonight at 11 p.m.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

“We got to have police. We got to have a community; we got to have them working together,” said Pastor Emeritus Jasper Williams with Salem Bible Church.

Pastor Williams said it’s all about unity, especially between police and the people.

“I see all of us sitting down at the table together, coming up with an approach where we can have it all,” said Williams.

This meeting wasn’t about their daily assignments but a call to restore trust within the Zone One community.

Zone 1 sits in the heart of Atlanta. It goes south to MLK Drive, east to Joseph E. Lowery Boulevard, and north in the Bolton and Chattahoochee neighborhoods.

“We need to trust those individuals who are in positions of power to do exactly what they say, and that protects and serves. Without the trust, what do you have? You have nothing,” said Williams.

Williams said he understands that people may not trust the police, especially with the recent death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis. But now it’s time to rebuild.

“What we seen in Memphis is not representative of every police,” said Williams.

TRENDING STORIES:

That’s why Williams wants to have a dialogue, between the people and the police.

“For example, if I’m pulled over, what should I do? What should be my action? What can I do to let that officer know that I mean him nor her no harm,” said Williams.

Atlanta Police Zone 1 Commander Reginald Moorman agrees it’s all about teamwork and trust.

“We have issues here that we definitely, have to work through, here in the community, and so our partnership with the church is priceless. If we don’t have trust from the community, we can’t do our jobs,” said Moorman.

They want to meet in every zone in Metro Atlanta every month. The next one will be in Zone 3. They have not scheduled the other ones yet, but we will let you know when they do.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:

Police departments reconsidering special units

©2022 Cox Media Group

Most Read