A group of Lake County women are organizing a “Saving our Sons and Daughters Summit” in response to recent police-involved fatal shootings.
The Aug. 15 event, hosted by Women of Influence Setting Examples (W.I.S.E), aims to bring all ages together with police officers from the Zion and Waukegan departments to discuss ways both parties can stay safe when they interact.
W.I.S.E Vice President Rosalin Lamon said the summit is in response to police-involved shootings across the country, including the April 4 incident in Zion that resulted in the death of 17-year-old Justus Howell.
“With all the other stuff that’s going on in the community, I just want (young people) to know what their rights are and how to deal with the police,” Lamon said. “You don’t have to be negative just because someone is being negative to you. Know your rights, and this is how you deal with it.”
The summit will provide attendees with information about their rights when they are stopped by police, as well as strategies to de-escalate situations with police officers.
The event will also give officers a chance to explain the reasoning behind their reactions to certain situations given their training and perspective.
“We have to come together and you know, not continue to look at situations far and wide and feel like you can’t trust the police …, because they are there for our good — they’re there to restore order,” said Shantal Taylor, a former Zion city commissioner who’s helping promote the effort.
The summit is free to attend and will include lunch. It will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Community Action Partnership of Lake County building, 1200 Glen Flora Ave., Waukegan.
Lamon said she has already received positive feedback from the community about the event.
“Some things happen, but how can we come together as a community and say, ‘Let’s fix the issue in our city. How can we work together? How can we team play this and say this is what we need to do?'” Lamon said.
Lamon asks those interested in attending the summit to RSVP at www.wisesc.org
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