Officers were caught on video holding Floyd down and one officer was shown kneeling on his neck for almost nine minutes. His death caused national outrage and has been followed by a series of protests throughout the country including in Springfield.
“Recently events in our country have made us more aware of the biases that threaten the lives of minorities and all of our citizens,” Flax Wilt said. “We want to ensure that Clark County is a community where all residents have safe and equal protection under the law.”
Commissioners passed the resolution on Wednesday to create the initiative, however, details on membership and how the team will work are still being finalized.
“We want to have a group diverse mix of people from the county, different areas of the county including Springfield, we want to have minority representatives from the Hispanic and the African-American community, also religious minorities,” Flax Wilt said. “We want to have good representation.”
The team was created through a joint effort with Flax Wilt, Clark County Sheriff Deb Burchett, Chief Deputy Jeff Meyer, Clark County Assistant Administrator Michelle Noble, Samina Ahmed, a member of the Miami Valley Islamic Association and the Global Education and Peace Network and Carl Ruby, senior pastor at Central Christian Church.
In early June, a group of Clark County clergy members, including Ruby, announced they intended to form a community law enforcement advisory team. They wanted the team to involve a number of pastors and faith-based leaders from various denominations, the Springfield Police Divison and the Sheriff’s Office.
Flax Wilt said the clergy members approached the commission with the idea to formally adopt the advisory team.
“We thought it was a great idea. So that has turned into what we are now referring to formally as the Clark County Law Enforcement Advisory Team,” Flax Wilt said.
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