Beginning on Saturday, the Town of Chapel Hill will host a series of listening sessions for members of the community to share ideas on how to make the area a safer and more inclusive space.

The town government says information shared during these sessions — which are available via Zoom — will inform the town’s future budget and community investment decisions.

Discussions will be centered on the mission of the Reimagining Community Safety Task Force, which was established by the town council last fall. This means identifying concrete, actionable recommendations that will achieve the following: increase public safety, eliminate structural inequities in public safety systems and enable all in the community to thrive.

One step in this process came in September, as the Chapel Hill Police Department updated its policy on the use of choke holds following a request from the town council. This was a response to the police department’s failure to fully ban choke holds following a town resolution in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing in Minnesota.

Through this upcoming series of listening sessions, members of the community will have the opportunity to provide input on similar measures that could end up being put into practice.

This Saturday will mark the first session and will run from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Other listening sessions will be held on Saturday, March 20 and Tuesday, March 23 — with a Spanish language session also set for Tuesday, March 16.

For those interested in participating, click here.

 

Photo via the Town of Chapel Hill.

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