TULSA— Hundreds packed the Greenwood Cultural Center Tuesday for a community forum to ask questions and get answers about police and community relations.
It was a chance for law enforcement and court personnel to answer tough questions about race relations and police violence.
It was the second of three planned events organized in the wake of several officer-involved killings in recent weeks across the country.
Last week organizers took questions from a crowd of about 400 people. Tuesday, a 7 person panel answered some of those questions.
Opening a dialogue is a major goal of ‘Tulsa Talks.’
Moderator DeVon Douglas is hoping these forums will be more than just talk.
“Have a solution so Tulsa, Oklahoma doesn’t have the same things that happen in Ferguson— we don’t want the same things that happen in Baton Rouge or in Dallas to happen in our city so this is the proactive way to make sure they don’t,” said organizer DeVon Douglas.
The panel includes members of the Tulsa police, the sheriff, the justice department, the Tulsa County prosecutor and the public defender’s office. Organizers invited some of the panelists, others volunteered to be here.
“We just want see a better relationship to improve on that and build on that,” said Public Defender David Phillips.
Questions and concerns about racial profiling and perceived police violence were a running theme during the 2 hour event.
The organizers— the Greenwood Chamber-- says it was a larger turnout than anticipated. About 450 people showed up.
They’ll take what they learned from this forum and have one more event focusing on what the community can do to address many of the issues brought up tonight.
Organizers don’t have a date yet but hope to do the last Tulsa Talks by the end of the month.
These are the invited speakers for the panel:
Major Travis Yates, Tulsa Police Dept
Sheriff Vic Regaldo, Tulsa County Sheriff's Office
Steven Kunzweiler, Tulsa County District Attorney
Loretta Radford, First Asst U.S. Attorney, Northern District of OK
David Phillips, Public Defender
Captain Walter Busby, Tulsa Police Dept
Jim Twombly, City of Tulsa
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