VIDEO: Learn 2 Live Event Held in Starkville

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – For the past year, tensions between law enforcement and people of color have been high from cases of police brutality and protests across the nation.

For residents in the Golden Triangle, an national organization is trying to bridge that gap.

They are members of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, and their event is designed to allow citizens and officers to see each others’ side of a situation.

It’s called Learn to Live.

“It’s just to bring the human aspect back to law enforcement,” said Starkville PD Officer and fraternity member Donte Thomas.

It’s to better educate citizens on how to better respond to encounters with police officers.

They were joined by officers from Starkville PD, Mississippi State Campus Police, and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, also known as NOBLE.

Their goals are to teach citizens of color law literacy, proper reactions to situations, and humanize officers in the eyes of a diverse community.

“I hope they take a better sense of understanding of what law enforcement does and why they do it and not to take offense to every little thing that happens. It’s a safety thing. At the end of the day, we have wives, families, mothers that we want to go home and see the next day, next morning,” said Williams.

The crowd was divided into groups and exposed to multiple situations faced by police and citizens on a regular basis.

People seem to be taking in what these organizations have to offer.

“I’m learning they’re more our friends than just enemies. They’re not here to harass us. Like, if you get to know them better, you’ll like them,” said Noxubee County resident Rodney Williams.

Organizers see the progress they are making, and even though it is small on the national scale it’s something they can be proud of.

“It’s a small part, and Starkville is not a very big city… But anything that we can do to make sure our community is safer, we want to do it.”

The event was held in the Taylor Auditorium on Mississippi State’s campus.

Kappa Alpha Psi tries to offer these events once a month.