The Halton Regional Police Service has released a statement on the death of George Floyd. Floyd was killed in Minneapolis by a police officer who knelt on his neck May 25, 2020.
The statement was signed by Chief Stephen Tanner, Deputy chief Roger Wilkie and Deputy Chief Jeff Hill. “George Floyd’s death makes us angry, and it makes us sad. It was unnecessary, and it was criminal,” they said.
They revealed the training tools in place for police officers. “We recently became the first police service in Canada to implement virtual reality/empathy based training for officers.” The training is described as teaching officers how to view interactions through someone else’s perspective, slow down encounters with individuals in crisis, facilitate respectful communications and ultimately, increase public trust.
The statement ends: “Are we perfect? No. But we are committed to the continual pursuit of improvement. Just as importantly, we remain committed to listening to the collective voices of our community.”
Read the full statement below:
The inexcusable death of George Floyd fills us with sadness and anger, and we know that it has raised many questions from the communities we serve.
We hear your concerns and wanted to share this message with you. pic.twitter.com/b9Gow5WC18— Halton Police (@HaltonPolice) June 1, 2020
