Violent Interactions between Law Enforcement and Black Americans Symposium

The overarching goal of the symposium, sponsored by Washtenaw County Health Department and community partners, was to have a solution-oriented discussion about violent interactions between police and black Americans. The keynote speaker was Dr. Brian Williams, a trauma surgeon who cared for multiple police officers who were killed and injured from targeted shootings in Dallas, TX, in the summer of 2016. The shootings occurred after the police killings of two black men in Baton Rouge, LA and Minneapolis, MN.

Four action-teams were created for symposium attendees to join:

• Advocacy
• Civic engagement/activism
• Community-Police engagement/partnerships
• Pipeline Programs: school (Kindergarten through 12th grade) to careers in law enforcement