Department of Justice leads trust-building workshop in Pasco

U.S. Department of Justice official Knight Sor stood in front of citizens Wednesday and asked for patience while the Pasco police force works to mend relations with the community.

Sor, from the federal agency’s Community Relations Services division, was in town to lead a workshop with Pasco police and the public, focusing on building community trust in the wake of the fatal shooting of Antonio Zambrano-Montes.

Inside a police training center building, Sor encouraged the small group of people in attendance to continue to have an open dialogue with police about tensions in the city as the DOJ, the department and community leaders try to work out solutions.

“Implementation takes time,” Sor told the group. “Give us time. In the meantime, carry on that conversation. That’s what we are having here today.”

The division, which acts as a peacemaker in communities in conflict, has intervened in places like Baltimore and Ferguson, where police shootings have led to riots and raised tensions over race and law enforcement’s use of force.

The DOJ has stepped in to help the police department as it works to change its image in the community.

The workshop — attended by about 10 citizens and 25 Pasco officers — discussed a variety of issues in policing and gave community members the chance to address some problems they saw within the department. Sor steered citizens away from discussing specifics about the Zambrano-Montes shooting or other high-profile Pasco cases.

Community members attributed the low turnout to the time the workshop was scheduled — from 1 to 5 p.m., when a lot of people are at work — and the late notice given by the DOJ. The meeting was announced late Tuesday.

Felix Vargas, who runs a Hispanic community group and has been involved in DOJ mediation talks, felt the workshop was a step in the right direction as the community begins to try to heal following the shooting.

“The city and police chief want to work with the community to bring about some much needed change to the way they do business, to the way they conduct community policing,” Vargas said. “I’ll see where it goes from here. I want to believe we will come out of this better and stronger.”

Taylor Taranto of Pasco said the discussion deteriorated toward the end of the meeting, and he believes many of the people who came left with the same feelings they walked in with.

“I was discouraged that it came to name-calling and pointing of fingers at each other. I don’t think the Department of Justice made the splash it was going for,” he said.

Chief Bob Metzger told the Herald that his officers were receptive to the workshop and it was a good chance for them to hear some of the issues community members have.

“We needed this kind of dialogue,” Metzger said. “We will continue to work with the public. We are committed to doing that. I am committed to doing that.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 9:50 PM with the headline "Department of Justice leads trust-building workshop in Pasco."