SALT LAKE CITY — Leaders of Utah's black community met Tuesday with Salt Lake City Mayor, Erin Mendenhall, and Police Chief, Mike Brown.
They discussed the recent demonstrations regarding police brutality and the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
It was described as a "listening session," as well as a review of police policies.
The community leaders wanted to give their feedback and the city leaders wanted to hear what they had to say, and open a dialogue over what's been going on the last several days in Utah and across the nation.
People who attended the meeting were a broad representation of the black community. They came from schools, universities, churches and civil rights groups.
The panel went over topics such as use-of-force, body cameras and conduct standards.
After the meeting, attendees said they felt good about the discussion.
They want minority communities in the state to know these discussions have started and they hope they can move forward.
"I feel good because it's a continuous, open dialogue," said Weber State University Football Coach, Kamaal Ahmad. "This isn't our last meeting, we're going to go back, we're going to continue meeting, we're going to continue having dialogue."
"Now I know both sides of the story," said Rep. Sandra Hollins, a Democrat who represents part of Salt Lake City. "So we are able to maybe come together and start working to see how we can go about repairing what is wrong."
Rep. Hollins said there are a number of steps that need to be taken, and that some of those changes might have to be made at the legislative level.
