Councilman Kenyatta Johnson organizes roundtable between police and community

FOX 29's Shawnette Wilson reports on the round-table discussion organized for Philadelphia Police officers and Philadelphia youth that took place Tuesday afternoon

PHILADELPHIA - A candid discussion was held Tuesday night between police and the community.

“I’d say it’s a start,” said 18-year-old Emanuel Gray. He’s encouraged by an organized meetup with young people and police this evening outside Myers Recreation Center in Southwest Philly.

Councilman Kenyatta Johnson organized the discussion for young people to speak directly to police about how they feel especially after the death of George Floyd.

“I want to set the tone early no officer here no officer in my building thinks what happened in Minneapolis was right. What they did was wrong. We are totally against what happened and we’re here to listen and to do better here in this community,” Captain Scott Drissel said.

Anthony Brown, 25, is a rap artist and poet. He shared a moving piece of his recent work.

“I’m so ecstatic right now. I’m glad that the police force was able to come together with the community and talk to us about possible solutions,” he said. “I have to show both sides because I was a victim of racist cops and being arrested but I didn’t let that determine how I look at all cops overall."

The young people also asked what changes police plan to make moving forward and invited them to do relationship-building activities with them to get to know their culture.

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