by Justin Hinton
WASHINGTON (ABC7) — “The climate
is constantly changing so we always have to have this conversation. We always
have to be doing this so that we can stay ahead of things,” said Pastor
Jeremiah Marshall of Gospel Outreach Community Center.
He said he was inspired to attend
and learn from a police use of force training workshop held at Christ Church in
Fairfax Station Friday after seeing the body cam footage of an officer using
his stun gun on a resident and what ensued.
On Saturday, June 6, after a day
of racial justice protests in D.C. following the death of George Floyd, the
Fairfax County Police Department called a late press conference to release
details surrounding the arrest of one of the department's own officers.
Body camera video showed the
white officer, Tyler Timberlake, deploying his stun gun on a Black man, who was
walking away from him at the time.
“Compiled with everything else,
it was a heavy weight," Marshall said. "It was heavy weight, hence
driving me to be here today to try and understand where they’re at and how I
can be a part of the change that can happen within Fairfax County Police
Department."
But he and other faith leaders didn’t
come to just sit down and learn about the six-month academy, the 250 hours
devoted to use of force training or the internal checks to make sure officers
aren’t applying force too many times.
They also came for a simulation
to see if they would use force on a given scenario.
“It kind of let me see in their
position what they have to do and how they have to do it and how much time they
have to do it in,” said Marshall.
These types of forums have been
taking place in Fairfax County for quite some time.
The police chief says it’s how
policies are developed.
“The policies we are explaining
today with our community advocates was and is and will continue to be
co-produced with our community,” Chief Edwin C. Roessler Jr. said. “Maybe
there’s a gap in our policy that community members can identify so we can take
that constructive criticism back and work with our community advocates to enhance
what we do in Fairfax County.”
He says Fairfax County was ahead
of the curve when it came to reviewing policy within the policy department.