First Burlington County Police Forum to be Held May 2

The Burlington City Police Department and the Tabernacle Baptist Church, led by Rev. Dr. Cory L. Jones, will be hosting Burlington County’s first Regional Community Workshop and Police Forum on Monday, May 2, at the Tabernacle Baptist Church, 150 E 2nd Street, Burlington.

The forum is from 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m., and is open to the public.

The first part of the event will be a Panel Discussion with presentations made by organizations to include the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, Burlington County Sheriff’s Department, Willingboro Township Police Department, among others.

Topics will include Use of Force Policies, use of Tasers and policies surrounding them, along with a discussion on how Law Enforcement agencies are working with community leaders to enhance communication locally.

There will be a Q&A during this portion of the event.

The second portion of the event will include an “open house” style event, in which members of the community can have open, informal dialogue with a community leader, police chaplain, law enforcement leader, emergency management coordinator, and other non-profit organizations.

Several law enforcement agencies, educators, religious leaders, police chaplains, emergency management officials, and community leaders have been meeting in recent months, and came up with the idea to hold this event.

“Open dialogue was encouraged in these meetings to discuss topics such as current national events between law enforcement and the community, racial relations between diverse communities and their law enforcement agency, how to better police our communities, and encouraging networking sessions to meet one another,” Burlington City Police said in a statement. “It is our intention to ensure there is a “platform of communication” in the event of a crisis or major incident in our region.”

In addition to Burlington City, participating police departments will include Burlington Township, Willingboro Township, Westampton Township, Edgewater Park Township, and Florence Township.

The Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and Sheriff’s Department will be on hand, along with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

For more information, contact Lt. John Fine at 609-386-0262 Ext. 205 or Police Administrative Staff Member Jamie Pennacchi at 609-386-0262 Ext. 252.