UNIVERSITY CITY, Mo. — Amid broader discussions about improving police tactics across the country, a local Missouri group is working with a national police research organization to take a look at the problems specific to policing in the St. Louis region.
Over the past several weeks, the local organization Better Together and the Police Executive Research Forum have organized four town hall meetings throughout the St. Louis region, hoping to improve relations between communities and police in the area. Information from the town halls will be incorporated into a study, conducted jointly by the two groups, about the “‘ideal’ policing solution for the St. Louis region,” according to Better Together’s website. The groups expect to issue a report by April.
Better Together was established in late 2013 to promote better community relationships with municipal governments in St. Louis County. The group has been focusing on policing issues since before unarmed teenager Michael Brown was killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, although Better Together has intensified its push for reform since Brown’s death in August. Brown’s killing sparked months of protests that called attention to policing problems in the larger St. Louis region.
Brooke Foster, communications director for Better Together, says the organization wanted to give respect to Brown’s family while completing its study. “We were going to do the work regardless. It’s just the events in Ferguson attracted more attention to our research,” Foster said.
The Police Executive Research Forum is an independent research group that focuses on policing issues. Better Together reached out to PERF to help produce a report about the future of community-police relations in the St. Louis area.
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