JACKSONVILLE, Arkansas — Jacksonville Police are taking new steps in the effort to hold law enforcement officers accountable.
Sergeant Quatiesha Otey said the new project could increase the community's trust.
"More of the officers are trying to be seen and actually get out with the community so that people can feel like they can trust us," said Otey.
In Jacksonville's 61 person police force, Otey said the entire department is taking steps to have the tough conversation of how to hold each other accountable.
"In light of the George Floyd incident, that was a situation where intervention didn't happen and unfortunately ended up with someone losing their life," Otey said.
It is scenes like that that she hopes will never happen here in Arkansas.
All members of the police department are undergoing a week-long training that will teach officers to de-escalate a situation.
It will also help officers learn how to jump in to stop a potentially dangerous interaction between an officer and another person.
"My favorite part of it is the scenarios because we get to actually have people get involved and see what they would do in the situation. And it makes people think," Otey said.
Jacksonville Mayor Bob Johnson said the idea for this new training came from the city's police chief after the world witnessed the civil unrest following George Floyd's death.
"Anything we can do so that an officer doesn't have to take another person's life is a great thing," Johnson said.
Mayor Johnson believes that in order for police to gain the public's trust, they must also be willing to make a change.
He is hoping this new project will continue to create unity in the agency and out in the community.
"That's what our community should be, we should know that our police are there to help us. We may have done something wrong, but we don't need to be hurt or in danger," Johnson said.
Department leaders said they hope to have all their officers trained by early December.
When new officers are hired, they will now learn the program as part of their training.