WASHINGTON • The task force on 21st Century policing set up by President Barack Obama in the wake of police shooting deaths in Ferguson and New York City, will hold a daylong public "listening session" here next week.
The Tuesday session will focus on "building trust and legitimacy," according to a Justice Department description, and it will take place next Tuesday at the Newseum, a Pennsylvania Avenue fixture halfway between the White House and the Capitol.
St. Louis civil rights activist Brittany Packnett is a member of the 11-person task force, set up last month by Obama to recommend changes in policing.
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Obama formed the commission after Michael Brown 18, was shot and killed by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, and after Eric Garner died while police were trying to arrest him in New York on July 17. Local grand juries failed to indict officers in both those cases, setting off nationwide protests.
The task force is co-chaired by Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey and George Mason University Professor of Criminology, Law and Society Laurie Robinson.
Obama has asked the task force to report by March 2 its recommendations on how to improve policing and relationships between police and communities.
