As nation ponders community policing, Scott and Gowdy hope S.C. can engage in the debate

During the August congressional recess, 12 U.S. House members — participants in a bipartisan group tasked with restoring trust between police and civilians — dialed into a conference call.

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., provided an update on how his community was doing after Alton Sterling, a black man, was shot and killed by white policemen outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge.

U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., shared local reactions to the news that the New York City Police commissioner was stepping down.

And U.S. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., recalled the “homework assignment” he’d given to his working group colleagues: Talk to people you wouldn’t normally speak to, Gowdy said. Find someone who has had an experience unlike any you have known.

Hours after the conference call concluded, Gowdy was off to follow his own advice. He stepped into the Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia, joined by U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and nearly two dozen fellow South Carolinians — half of them from the faith community, half of them with careers in law enforcement; most of them non-white.

Read more here: http://www.postandcourier.com/20160903/160909811/as-nation-ponders-community-policing-scott-and-gowdy-hope-sc-can-engage-in-the-debate