Congressional Policing Strategies Working Group Convenes Roundtable With Detroit Community Leaders

Congresswoman Robin Kelly, along with fellow members of the bipartisan Policing Strategies Working Group, met today with local community leaders and law enforcement in Detroit to discuss police accountability, aggression towards law enforcement and public safety concerns related to policing issues. 

Members of the working group held a press conference following a private roundtable with community leaders at the Theodore Levin U.S. Courthouse in Detroit.

The Detroit meeting is the second is a series of roundtables convened by the bipartisan working group to candidly discuss with outside leaders the issues fueling excessive force used by law enforcement and attacks against police officers.

“During the roundtable, we discussed the difficult work that law enforcement encounters every day trying to make our communities safer,” Congresswoman Kelly said. “It’s clear that more federal resources are needed to increase diverse recruitment, to screen for quality candidates, and to enhance training on de-escalation and countering implicit bias. To achieve this, we need to start by building respect and trust between police and the community. I believe today’s roundtable was an important step toward law enforcement and community leaders working together to achieve that goal.”

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.) lead the working group. In addition to Rep. Kelly, members of the working group are: Representatives Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Dave Reichert (R-Wash.), Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), Will Hurd (R-Texas), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Cedric Richmond (D-La.), and Keith Ellison (D-Minn.).