Ten at the Top’s Creating a Safer Upstate Discover Committee announced a series of recommendations to promote collaboration among its stakeholders in fostering a culture that may facilitate respect and value for the lives of all Upstate residents and police officers.
The committee, comprised of more than 50 representatives from Upstate business, faith and public service sectors, was convened by TATT board of directors chairman and Anderson Mayor Terence Roberts in July after a number of highly publicized instances of police force across the country.
“While our region has been fortunate not to have seen the violence and social unrest that has occurred in other parts of the country, we do recognize that not every Upstate resident feels safe or trusts our law enforcement officers,” said Roberts. “We felt with the platform already established by Ten at the Top to be a neutral convener, that we had an opportunity to proactively engage stakeholders across the region around the topic of creating a safer region for all residents.”
Over the course of four virtual meetings, the committee identified the following goals to improve relationships between community residents and law enforcement:
- Engage law enforcement officials, community leaders and residents to work together to build healthy working relationships
- Provide opportunities for law enforcement and community leaders to regularly meet to discuss community issues and emerging law enforcement topics while exploring approaches that may be implemented locally
- Build public trust by identifying, sharing and implementing best practice approaches for developing a sustainable, healthy relationship between law enforcement officials and the greater Upstate community
Moving forward, a steering committee headed by Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark and Stinson Ferguson of Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd P.A. will focus on these goals.
Those interested in participating in the Safer Upstate Steering Committee should contact Justine Allen at jallen@tenatthetop.org or 864-283-0346.
For more information, visit tenatthetop.org.
