The Mayor's Commission on race has submitted a report on how to improve relations between police and the public.

Last year, Mayor Adrian Perkins charged this committee to “make recommendations on how to build trust between law enforcement and the communities of color.”
But Perkins also called on the panel to look at disparities and health outcomes with regard to COVID-19. He also asked the panel to look for other ways to improve race relations in Shreveport.

A subcommittee has been working on ways to improve trust between the Black community and police. This panel has presented a plan to the city council for ways to build trust. One key issue is the concern there is a lack of accountability which many claim causes mistrust.

These suggestions are offered in the report:

  1. The police chief can discipline an officer,
  2. A prosecutor can file criminal charges against an officer who is suspected of misconduct, and,
  3. A victim of police misconduct can file a civil lawsuit against the officer(s).

The panel is examining how effective these procedures are and what the city can do to make things better.

Here are the members of the race commission:

Former Shreveport City Councilman Willie Bradford, Michael Billings, Sam Carr, Chris Ciochhetti, Harvey Clay, Janine “JJ” Conway, Shadi Darzeidan, Jada Durdin, Katrina Farris, John Henson, Michael Hicks, Omari Ho-Sang, Turaeza Hose, Gary Lash, Nathaniel Manning, Ashish Modi, Betsy Phillips, John Ratcliff, Deidra Robertson, Rebecca Thomas, Brittany Turner, Judy Williams, Brian Wilson, Crystalyn Whitaker, and Montrell Whitaker.

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