Community Leaders, Activists Meet To Discuss Civil Unrest Following Police Shootings

NORTHRIDGE (CBSLA.com) —   In the wake of civil unrest, the Minority Outreach Committee (MOC) and community activists from around the San Fernando Valley gathered at Cal State Northridge Saturday to open up a dialogue on race and police shootings.

CBS2's Adrianna Weingold was there.

El Cajon and Pasadena, just the two most recent communities caught up in violence between police and minorities. With racial conflict seemingly escalating every day the people meeting in Northridge were  asking a simple question.: How do we mend a broken past?

"We want to make certain that we don't say all policemen are bad, just as we don't want to say all minorities are bad," said Rev. Cecil Murray, a civil rights activist.

Police officers and civil rights activists joined  MOC  to open a dialogue about race relations in Los Angeles, specifically how we can all rebuild trust between the community and police.

"Whenever a community doesn't think they have a voice, they'll speak somehow and twice now we've seen that voice in the form of a rioe ca Wn never let that happen again," said LAPD Deputy Chief Bob Green.

He says events like this with honest discussion are critical to improving relations, especially with problems between police and minorities continuing to plague the country, with riots, protests and unrest from Tulsa to Charlotte to right here in Southern California.

"In all of these transactions, in all of these murders, there's no communication that says hey let me de-escalate this situation, first, let me figure out what's going on," says Dr. Norris Dorsey, a professor.

But instead of lashing out in protest or with violence, the symposium aims to find a solution, a deeper understanding and more communication between groups before more people are hurt or killed.