Locals react to local law enforcement and minority group meeting

Many residents watched as local law enforcement officials and local minority groups came together during a press conference Tuesday to talk about the death of George Floyd, as well as riots and protests in our country.

The death of George Floyd has sparked protests and riots across our country, but Tuesday, the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, and other local law enforcement agencies met with the lead coalition and other minority groups to offer ways to build relationships in the community.

“There are those in Bay County that have a different view of law-enforcement, a negative view of law enforcement. We need to work together to cross those bridges, so that there is better respect for citizens and citizens for law enforcement," said Lead Coalition of Bay County Executive Director Janice Lucas.

Some locals say the trust between the community and law enforcement has been a problem for decades , and George Floyd’s death just shed light on the problem. Bay County resident Al McCambry said the incident in Minnesota is even impacting younger generations.

“I’ve got a grandson that used to always want to be a cop. The other day he told me,‘Papa, I think I want to be a fireman.’ I said why ‘because there are some bad cops out there.’ I’m having to have these kinds of conversations,” said Bay County Resident Al McCambry.

McCambry said, "We should acknowledge there are many good cops, like the officers in our area and all over the country, working to keep communities safe. But, we should also acknowledge that racism and police brutality that is still prevalent in our country."

“I think people take for granted that it exists (racism/police brutality). Unfortunately, the level of violence and level of ugliness surrounding what happened with George Floyd just makes it more prevalent that we still have a lot of work to do,” said McCambry.

McCambry said we should continue to find peaceful ways to work and build relationships between law enforcement and the community to put a stop to these issues and move forward as a united country.