What was something important that you learned today?

• That there are people in this community that don’t feel safe.
• Everybody has gone though personal challenges that you have no idea about, including coworkers.
• Everybody has a story that has affected the way they view law enforcement, I want to be that story where someone was treated fairly and with kindness.
• I learned how important it is to realize how many assumptions we make about people without hardly knowing their name.
• Many police officers care a great deal about how they are perceived in the community.
• Cops have feelings. Most women and women of color do not feel safe.
• The pain that officers experience and the fear (even off duty)
• That we all have issues with race, gender, religion and we need to work on our understanding.
• No matter how different you think people are, you are more like them than you think. I was very surprised at how much my life experience in the “step in/out” exercise was to others.
• How others see LE, how bad interactions can overshadow the positive.
• Everyone is human.
• Police officers often feel afraid.
• I’m not alone
• That everyone has issues and it’s OK
• Police officers often carry around pain
• Learned that police have interest in furthering this kind of training and discussion, which is encouraging
• Family and internal effects of the life of being a police officer
• Everyone bases their perceptions on past experiences. Understand that these perceptions are “real” feelings
• The level of stress the officers carry day in and day out
• Perspectives from police officers, some of their hardships
• Diverse background of co-workers that I “assumed” wasn’t there
• That there are too many prejudices due to lack of knowledge
• Some of the stories were very interesting and it was an eye opener with some of those individuals backgrounds
• That peoples past exposure to Law enforcement can change for the better if we continue
• To listen more and respect that everyone has their opinion and feelings even if you don’t agree
• Everyone’s perspective shapes their reality
• Seeing and hearing very personal, sensitive parts of people’s lives
• How police officers live
• How officer’s feel
• I learned how profound people’s negative experiences have impacted their lives. We all need to be more empathetic.
• Cops are people; They are human; They ARE protectors; We can be friends
• Safety, especially at night, isn’t just a woman’s issue.
• Perspectives of Non-cops; officers maybe not always doing things correctly
• How deep my feelings are about certain stereotypes
• Participants have a wide variety of personal experiences that have shaped their beliefs
• People all have different experiences that impact how they perceive and react to law enforcement
• Conversing with public on personal level is important

What did you like most about the workshop?

• It was interactive and the facilitators did a good job of keeping on topic and making good points.
• I enjoyed the facilitators and how we did a lot of different exercises that made me really think
• Facilitators made us comfortable in our discomfort.
• Lee & Mrs. Taing did an outstanding job facilitating meaningful discussions
• Thank you B. and Hun for giving us the opportunity to come together and talk!
• Outstanding job Brandon , Hun and all involved. Thank you
• Outstanding job Brandon , Hun and all involved. Thank you
• Hearing from the community and having the opportunity to respond.
• I enjoyed the space and activities.
• The opportunity to learn about community members.
• Getting to speak in person about these issues, without feeling scrutinized.
• The open, peaceful environment set up for communication. I like the small group environment. I think getting to be closer to people, seeing their humanity would be lost in a larger group.
• The interactions with others. Getting out of the “comfort zone”.
• I really enjoyed hearing the police officers talk about how they view the community and their work.
• Getting the chance to speak and have others actually listen.
• I liked the sense of a safe place to share and speak and be heard.
• The whole program was enjoyable.
• This was a good class. Good job. Need more of them.
• The workshop was very informative, the experiences of others is very important.
• Thank you for the work you are doing!
• This was fantastic. More workshops like this would be helpful.
• Great training.
• This is an excellent start and I appreciate the opportunity to participate. Please do this again and again and make it easier for all community members to participate. We all have biases but we don’t always do the work to acknowledge them and challenge them.
• Sharing stories, Getting acquainted with officers and letting them get to know us in a deeper way
• The fact that this community is trying
• Inter-mixing, getting everyone out of their zone
• The sharing
• Sharing experiences
• Sharing stories, hearing what people felt
• Interactive- first lines exercise with special questions to stimulate sharing
• Opportunities to listen to others without hostility and judgment
• Interactive/Open
• The interaction between community citizens and the police
• Meeting all these people
• Community member interaction
• It was beneficial to mix up the groups and have good conversations Good opportunity to share
• The interaction, honesty and openness. Great perspectives
• It’s not one sided and it’s not an argument. Its people sharing their views
• Being able to share to the community that I am human too – want to be heard, treated respectfully and validated
• The concept of open communication
• Interaction with community members and police department employees
• I enjoyed it all, was not sure what to expect, but it was wonderful
• Some opportunity to be heard
• The public speaking without accusations, but still being open and honest about their experiences
• Interfacing with community outside of enforcement
• I am glad I got to speak. I’m glad others got to speak
• About other’s feelings
• Dialogue
• All of it
• Story telling – listening to others and hearing their perspective
• It felt like the officers were there because they wanted to be there
• Participation from community members
• Active participation exercises
• Ability to hear from a variety of people
• Interactive and not lecture/power point
• Everything
• Public interaction

Please write your comments:

• Very important ideas – Thank you
• Very well done. I’d like to be invited to additional sessions
• Need more of these, more workshops and more participants
• Great workshop!
• We need more of this
• Thank you for offering the training and I feel like I’m better for going through it
• This class made me dig down deep into feelings I thought were dealt with. Very emotional, but good
• I was taught one thing, one time about race growing up. My mom told me the first time I saw a person of color, “Honey, we all have red blood”  It was a lasting lesson and underlined my perspective that we are fundamentally the same
• Pleasant experience and a joy to hear and to share about police work
• I can do this forever, so much learning
• This was the first time I’ve shook an officers hand and heard about their families. This need to happen with incoming freshman.
• Really enjoyed – thank you!
• Best diversity type training I have had. Nice job and thank you!