More than 500 community members crowded into the Pentecostal Cathedral Church of God in Christ Sunday afternoon for Faith in Indiana’s Peacemaker Summit. The event was in response to the fatal police shooting of Eric Logan and the rise of gun violence in South Bend.
Faith leaders publicly appealed to elected officials to fund initiatives including a national program called the Peacemaker Fellowship. Council President Tim Scott says the city is allocating $350,000 for a Group Violence Intervention Project.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg pledged to provide de-escalation training for the police department and to advocate for a discipline policy that holds officers accountable. He added that the community needs to do it’s part, too.
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“It will not be easy to keep the faith in these approaches when something bad happens in the midst of them, and something bad will happen and will test our faith,” he says. “But what is a community good for if not helping one another do things that are not easy.”
Buttigieg says that recommendations from a series of community listening sessions will be presented to the Board of Public Safety on Oct. 16.
Contact Justin at jhicks@wvpe.org or follow him on Twitter at @Hicks_JustinM.
