NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – When a teenage robbery suspect was killed by police after he shot and wounded an officer last month, ministers were among the first people investigators called. Two went to the scene where officers had tried to coax the teen into surrendering; two went to the hospital to be with the wounded officer; another went to be with the young man’s grieving mother.
Police and the ministers say they were able to quickly tap into relationships formed over regular meetings. In the aftermath of police shootings of black suspects that prompted nationwide protests, the police had already gained the ministers’ trust and had their numbers close at hand.
It wasn’t the first time those relationships had paid off. Both police and the ministers say the meetings, usually over breakfast, are aimed at building trust with people who may otherwise be suspicious of authorities or reluctant to involve them in Nashville, a city with a history of racial tension and segregation not unlike that seen across the Deep South. And they say they are working.
Those conversations had helped back in October, too, after the shooting of a Tennessee State University student. During a meeting open to the public at a police precinct, officers learned that community leaders were going to hold a news conference about the shooting.
According to Pastor Enoch Fuzz, a regular at the meetings, the officers asked if they could attend and show a picture of the suspect.