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'We all come together': Nonprofit partners with GRPD for community conversations

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — One local organization is staying true to its name with its latest series of community events.

This year, LINC UP, a nonprofit geared towards connecting neighborhoods to resources, is now partnering with local law enforcement to foster community conversations, hoping to bridge the gap between police and people in Grand Rapids.

“We have had past community conversations,” Sumika Douglas, LINC UP’s community liaison, said on Thursday. “Community members expressed the need and want to sit and have conversations with officers, because they don’t have, they’re never invited to certain tables.”

On Thursday, the first of three community conversations took place at the Baxter Community Center, hosted by LINC UP and the Grand Rapids Police Department, among others.

Grand Rapids officers were there and ready to discuss accountability and local culture.

“We want the result to build relationships,” Douglas explained, saying it's a long-held need.

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Douglas says the goal is to lessen the divide “within the community, with officers as well as community members, and also to let community members know that the officers are there if they need them, but we really should be community policing ourselves.”

Several more community conversations are planned for July and August.

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Meanwhile, LINC UP has plenty of other projects in the works. “It’s all tied together in the long run. We’re going to have a Stop the Hate: Unity Walk,” said Douglas, who went on to say that LINC UP is also focused on providing opportunities for young people.

“That’s what all of this is leading up to. First build that relationship with officers and within the community. So we all come together for our youth. Our youth is the ones that need us this summer."

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