Fellow panelist Osita Iroegbu, an educator and activist who grew up in Hillside Court in South Richmond, said police shootings are the symptom of widespread racial bias and she encouraged the audience to “step out of the comfort zone of white privilege.”
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Richmond Police Chief Alfred Durham, a panelist, said his officers have better relationships with the city’s residents than officers have in cities such as Ferguson, Mo., and Baltimore — sites of high-profile police officer-involved deaths of African-Americans.
Still, it’s incumbent on everyone — officers and residents alike — to “act right,” Durham said.
Stewart Morris, an African-American audience member who lives in Richmond, said he worried about what would happen if he got pulled over by police officers and divulged having a concealed weapons permit.
He asked Durham if his officers are trained on what to do if they pull over a black man with a legally concealed weapon.
“I don’t want to be shot, man,” Morris said.
Durham said from May 28 through Aug. 31, the police department confiscated 176 guns during a roundup of fugitives and firearms. About 24,000 people were contacted by the police during the roundup.
“Guess how many were shot. None,” Durham said.
