PEORIA - Three-pointers, free throws and bean bags. The "Don't Start" movement hosted its second annual event "Don't Start at the Park II," Saturday afternoon at the Carver Center in Peoria.
This year they brought together a limited group of students, police officers, firefighters and educators to team up and compete for first prize. It was all an effort for the Peoria based movement to improve community and law enforcement relations.
But the message organizers Warith Muhammad and Joe Couri pushed was that collaboration between those two sides can solve community problems.
"Fighting those problems with hate and anger is not going to solve the problem," Muhammad said. "And with compassion and empathy then we come up with a solution that fits everybody's problems."
Agbara Bryson, CEO of the Mew Millennium Institute, said events like this allows participants to understand implicit bias and how it can interfere with perceptions of others. However, wide-spread understanding will take repeated action.
"To build community trust you have to have ongoing community engagement," Bryson said.
Chief of Peoria police Loren Marion attended and said programs like the resident officer social events would normally take place ten times a year but this year there haven't been any because of the ongoing pandemic.
It makes this event a bit more valuable and allowed students to interact with law enforcement in an easy-going atmosphere
"It was fun, competitive," Richwoods High School student Jamauri Winfrey said. "A way as a community to all join together and doing something fun and positive."
"Don't Start" was created five years ago to sway young people towards a positive approach to life and Muhammad said a change of mind is the biggest victory.
"If you could change one officer's mind-concept that was thinking about abusing his power or one community member that was thinking all police are bad. You've saved somebody's life," Muhammad said.
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September 27, 2020 at 08:38AM
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'Don't Start' hosts community and law enforcement event - week.com
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