Police Work To Build Trust in Canton's Minority Communities

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For the Canton Police Department, its ultimate goal is to build legitimate, long lasting and sustainable relationships between the organization and the community it serves.

With that in mind, the agency is working hard to reach out to all citizens and neighborhoods in the city.

Some of these outreach efforts include town hall meetings, social media engagement efforts, community activities and neighborhood meetings.

“I want everyone to know (that) I believe our agency needs to reach out to professionally and equally serve each segment of our community,” said Police Chief Mark Mitchell.

Pacer Cordry, the police department’s community officer, said it’s important for the agency to “listen to the needs of the community and proactively respond to their issues and concerns.”

“The police department will do what it thinks is best for the community, but until you really listen to the community and what they have to say, you are only doing half the job you should be doing,” he added.

Mitchell and members of his command staff last month met with several black and Hispanic ministers and community members in an effort to inform them about our agency, discuss the department’s community goals and coordinate its first quarterly town hall meeting.

Officers also listened to valuable input they provided about how the agency may better serve the needs of their communities.

“The meeting was positive, created important dialogue and, in our opinion, went very well,” Mitchell said. “Recent events around the country have caused serious tension between law enforcement and their minority communities. With that said, one of the major goals of our agency is to build partnerships, communication and trust in our city. I think it is important for this agency to connect with the African-American, Hispanic and other citizen groups in an effort to strengthen our relationships. This will pay important dividends for these communities and our agency in the future and allow us to effectively address criminal activity and public concerns.”

Charles D. Morgan, pastor of Zion Baptist Church, said he appreciated the Canton Police Department’s efforts to reach out to the community and city churches to ”share their goals and objectives for building a better and more positive relationship within the Community.”

“This first meeting was very informative and the dialogue was open and forthright,” he added. “I look forward to working with the Canton Police Department towards reaching their community objectives.”

Former Canton City Council member Pat Tanner, the city’s first black elected official, added the agency’s meeting serves as the first step of many towards the department building a more positive and successful relationship with the community.

“The opportunity to meet, share ideas, and be straightforward in our dialogue was beneficial and enlightening,” she added. “To have our police department take positive, rather than reactive, steps within the community speaks highly of the Canton Police Depatment. I am very optimistic about these two entities establishing an effective, meaningful, and worthwhile relationship. LAO TZU said, ‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.’ Our journey has begun and I look forward to the end.”

Lemora Dobbs, pastor at St. Paul AME Church, thanked Mitchell for his efforts and his vision of “community enrichment” he seeks to add to the city of Canton.

“Chief Mitchell demonstrates strong leadership by taking a proactive stance in creating partnerships between the CPD, Canton residents and organizations so we can all work together to build a stronger, more inclusive community,” Dobbs stated.

Future meetings will be announced using social media and the local media outlets, the department said.

Photo: front row, from left: Pat Tanner, Pastor Lemora Dobbs and Pastor Lydia Ayala; back row: Assistant Chief Stephen Merrifield, Deacon John Heard, Chief Mark Mitchell, Pastor Elbert Davis and Lt. German Rivas. Credit: Stan Wilson