In the wake of recent shootings involving police across the country, Pittsfield Mayor Linda Tyer tells WAMC Friday she has talked with the city’s police chief about engaging the community in a conversation about law enforcement’s relationship with the public.
“I think that it’s more effective when we have community engagement conversations before there is a crisis,” Tyer said. “That’s not to say that there might not be an incident we can’t anticipate, but I think if we are in relationship with one another that those crises are handled more effectively when we have built relationships with each other around these issues.”
Tyer says a community forum may be held in the next few weeks. An attack on police during a protest in Dallas Thursday killed five officers and wounded several more. The protest and others like it have been held across the country in response to fatal shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana involving police and black men.