ROCK ISLAND, Illinois — One point on The Resolution's platform is now being addressed, after more than 100 days of fighting for police reform. The activist group is working with the city of Rock Island on a commission to improve relations between police officers and citizens.
"At the end of the day, it gets down to relationships (and) this lack of communication and relationships (between the police and the community)," Founder Thurgood Brooks.
The group will be made up of no more than ten law enforcement officials, but also a variety of residents, including those who Brooks says are often overlooked.
"Those returning home from being incarcerated at some point in their lives, because those citizens are kept out of the fabric of our community," Brooks says. "(They) have a great perspective to see where we want to go."
City Manager Randy Tweet says the commission will be addressed at city council meetings several times over the next few months before it's up for a vote. He anticipates an approval from the council.
"It's important for us to address now and not put it on the back burner," Tweet says. "We're excited to move forward on this and make Rock Island a better place."
In the long term, Thurgood says it will have an impact and can change the community's attitude about the police.
"Now, we'll see more kids from my community, instead of saying 'Don't be a cop,' but rather 'I can't wait to be a cop or firefighter," because we're starting now to ingrain certain values and principles that we have been always taught to, by experience, shy away from," Brooks says.
The Resolution and the city are drafting up a proposal of the commission to give city council in the next month of so. If it's approved, members will be appointed by the mayor and voted on by city council. The commission is expected to be full established in early 2021.