Video: Working Groups Make Recommendations To City Council

TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – Four working groups formed in the wake of a fatal officer involved shooting in Tupelo this summer have presented their findings to city councilmembers.

Groups dealing with “Community Oriented Policing,”   a “Police Advisory Board,”  “City Hiring and Training policies” and a “Faith Based Community Group” made recommendations to the council.

Among the highlights;  Reinstate a bike patrol among the Tupelo Police Department,  Encourage the city to celebrate “Law Enforcement Appreciation Day”.

Also, a recommendation was made to hold a town hall meeting to get input on a possible police advisory board, which would serve as a liasion between the police department and community.

The chairperson of one of the groups said one common issue is a lack of communication or awareness of existing programs, under Community Oriented Policing.

“There are over 62 programs that currently exist with the COP program, however we have discovered that a lot of the community did not even know these existed, so one of the things we would like to see is more public awareness of existing programs, getting it out to churches, putting it out on social media,” said Rashni Barath, chair of the Community Oriented Policing Working Group.

Two more groups will make their recommendations.  Mayor Jason Shelton will present the findings to the council for their consideration and possible vote November first.