On Friday, February 10th a one of a kind summit took place in the City of Chester. The Pennsylvania DMC Youth/Law Enforcement Corporation, Chester Upland School District (CUSD), Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, Mayor Thaddeus Kirkland, and Councilwoman Elizabeth Williams presented a forum hosted by the Boys and Girls Club of Chester for youth and law enforcement to come together and engage in an open- honest dialogue and work toward bridging the gap between the two.
In recent years, there have been several cases of fatalities of young African Americans whose lives were cut short at the hands of police officers sworn to protect and serve. Young people feel increasingly at odds with law enforcement, and a chief complaint is the perceived inability of law enforcement to work at understanding them. This along with the implicit biases that youth perceive law enforcement agencies bring to the job of policing, is what exactly made this first-of-its-kind forum a teaching moment, for sure.
It provided a first-of-its-kind opportunity for youth from the city and law enforcement to come together in a forum of this kind. The analysts were Lady Chaplain, Dr. Lisa Dennis, District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer, Officer Terrence Taylor, Prosecutor Jason Harmon, Chester High School students Shamiyah Townes (15), Marcus Benson (16), Jameel Gethers (16), Damire Robertson (16), and Members of the Chester Fire EMS and Police Youth Explorer Programs.
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