DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Dearborn Heights Police Department Chief Jerrod Hart met up with 7 Action News anchor Glenda Lewis at a church in the city that played an important role in his life.
Hart and Lewis talked for our new segment called Check-in with the Chief.
"This is where I learned how to be a good person — a good son, a good community member, and to learn how to relate and just be a good citizen," Hart said. "So, my roots are right here in this beautiful little church."
As the world and policing continue to change, Hart said "it's an exciting time, but it's also very anxious."
"I'm asking the police department to really look at the community with a different lens and more of a community-oriented policing. We can't solve all of society's problems, but we do have connections to resources where we can help people find mental health resources and counseling, domestic violence (help) — whatever it may be, substance abuse," Hart said.
He said the department is starting to become more "data-driven" to address the community's needs including in unconventional ways.
"It's more of a connection to community policing," Hart said. "As we know right now, anyone who's on social media, it's a hard time, right. The world really is kind of angry with each other over issues that I don't even think people really understand."
Hart says his officers have been working with the Department of Justice, which is going to give the police department an organizational assessment to help find better policing and community strategies.
"We're all in it together. It's an exceptionally hard time to do that, but who else is going to take the lead," Hart said. "We all have to feel that sense of shame when a police officer does something wrong, and it could be something many states away that impacts our relationship with the community. It's about getting better, and that's really what we're trying to do is for all of us to be better."
