This past July, the City of Canton hosted a unity meeting and invited members of the local clergy, Police Chief Mark Mitchell, and Mayor Gene Hobgood. Due to recent national events, the focus of the meeting was to discuss continued efforts to build trusting relationships between the Police Department and the citizens it serves. Participants noted that the relationship between the Police Department and the community is very good, but there will always be opportunities to improve communication, feedback, and follow-up in order to further strengthen the trust that is being cultivated between the community and its officers.
As a result of the meeting, a “What to Expect During a Traffic Stop” educational brochure in both English and Spanish has been created. The objective of this effort will be the ability to show the process, procedure, role, and responsibility of both the officer and citizen during a traffic stop encounter. The hope is, this information will continue to improve relationships between the City of Canton, the Police Department and the Community by providing valuable insights for all parties, while building a foundation of trust and success for the future.
This pamphlet is currently in print and will be handed out to citizens during Community Outreach events. It will also be available via the Police Department’s social media pages and will be produced into an education video at some point in the near future.
Chief Mark J. Mitchell stated, “The goal and purpose of this brochure is to clearly relay that education and communication are the key components to keeping city residents, those passing through our city and police officers safe. We are proud to partner with our local Clergy on this project and look forward to uniting with them on additional projects in the future with the goal of improving the Quality of Life for everyone in our Community.”
Attachments: “What to Expect During a Traffic Stop” –
English https://www.scribd.com/document/323380737/Canton-Police-Traffic-Stop-Expectations-Press-Release
“What to Expect during a Traffic Stop” – Spanish -https://www.scribd.com/document/323380736/Canton-Police-Traffic-Stop-Expectations-Spanish
