Akron Police Have Been Building Community Relationships For Decades

Lloyd Ford grew up in an Akron neighborhood where there was a general distrust of police.So when he joined the Akron Police Department 32 years ago, he knew that it would be a challenge to build relationships of trust between law enforcement officers and the black community.Over the years, that process has included convincing some people that the uniform has not changed who he is as a person and convincing some of his fellow officers that not every African-American perceives them as a threat.As the nation reels from incidents of unarmed African-American males being killed by police officers under questionable circumstances and police officers being targeted and killed in response, many are asking how to build trust.Ford believes he has something to contribute to the discussion.“As simple as it sounds — but yet it sometimes seems so complicated for people to do — the way to build trust between the community and police is through respect, compassion and kindness,” Ford said.