On another occasion, McLay mentioned that officers who’d just finished an overnight shift, went to walk in a peace march the community had organized.
“I’m very happy with those relationships,” he said. “It ain’t perfect. There’s a lot going on locally and nationally. But there are a lot of really great things going on in Pittsburgh, and I think we don’t always give ourselves the pat on the back we deserve.”
At the same time, he is keenly aware that local and national incidents involving police shootings of unarmed Black civilians jeopardize the rapport he hopes to build with the community.
Garland is aware of it too, noting that without those positive relationships, community members will remain reluctant to confide in police, and community violence will remain hard to eliminate.
“I’m all for trying to improve police-community relations We just had a basketball game with police against guys from Jason Rivers’ AR3 League. It was good and I’m hoping to continue that kind of thing,” he said.
“And I think Chief McLay is trying to do the right thing. We’ve gotta stop being so small minded—we have to look at the big picture. Its about where we go from here.”
Two months after the police-community relations forum, the church will host the second in the series, this time addressing the issue of affordable housing. Guests for that panel include developer Mike Polite, CEO of Ralph A. Falbo Inc. and Pittsburgh Councilman Danny Lavelle, who co-chairs the city’s Affordable Housing Task Force. That discussion will focus on the city’s growing need for affordable housing, and the pros and cons of various funding and spending plans.
Finally, on Feb. 7, 2017, the church will host a discussion on educational equity featuring Homewood Children’s Village President and CEO Fred Brown and UrbanKind Institute Director Jamil Bey. The discussion will explore ways to improve educational equity for Black children in the city.
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