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A robust and informative discussion was had by all who participated in the very meaningful conversation about use of force and training for police officers. Chief Tim Malley and Lieutenant Leslie Wilkins led the discussion by introducing Lt. Roger Warner, Operations/Training Unit and Pat Fiorilli, retired Commander for the Westshore Enforcement Bureau (WEB). Retired Detective Fiorilli was instrumental in the Use of Force and Firearms training for the Lakewood Police Department (LPD). He was also a 17 year member of the WEB swat team. The meeting participants learned the LPD does not employ tear gas, but utilizes the least intrusive method, which is an OC vapor. An individual needs only to step into clean air for relief, and there is no decontamination necessary for OC vapor, whereas with other more intrusive methods decontamination may be necessary. WEB is comprised of the western suburbs police forces. The policies are consistent among all the WEB police departments. Hence, when LPD or another WEB department member is deployed to another suburb, that police department acts as an agent of the department seeking assistance. Because the policies among all the WEB departments are consistent there is an easy transition when assistance is needed. A question was raised about what the protocol is for dispersing a crowd if it is deemed necessary. First, crowds, groups or protesters have a right to assemble peacefully. LPD will only take steps to disperse a crowd when laws are broken or people become violent. Once there is a perceived violation of law or violence LPD will issue a disperse order, then release a nontoxic smoke as a warning that an agent is forthcoming. The purpose of the nontoxic smoke is to provide the wind direction and also serve as a warning to those present. The last step is to release the OC spray if deemed necessary. LPD does not use bean bags or rubber bullets like other departments. Lt. Warner walked us through the extensive and comprehensive trainings LPD officers undergo for human relations. Some trainings he discussed were Anti-Bias Training, De- Escalation, and Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). LPD utilizes the Memphis Model for CIT. In 2019, LPD received 191 calls for people in crisis and 49 of those calls were suicidal threats. De-escalation training is incredibly important when responding to these types of calls or anyone in a state of crisis. There are some impressive and positive outcomes that help demonstrate the preparedness of the LPD CIT Officers regarding those 191 crisis calls last year. The results were: zero lasers used; zero firearms used; zero OC spray was used; zero arrests were made; and zero injuries occurred. Chief Malley stated that the Use ofForce Policy is a fluid document that is ever changing with law updates and best practices. Lt. Wilkins, who will be the Acting Chief of Police upon Chief Malley's imminent retirement, is open to further discussions about policing policies. Members of the public participated in the open discussions. One resident candidly said the community could benefit from LPD actively communicating how LPD is different, and active outreach can build community trust. One suggested way to achieve trust is to publish a summary of the trainings so the public is aware of all the positive achievements being made by LPD. Another Public Safety Committee meeting will be scheduled for the month ofJuly to continue the dialogue about policing practices and to address the 98CantWait strategies.