Mayor supports Dept. of Justice involvement

From press release

Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey and Police Chief Chet Epperson met with officials Aug. 31 from the Community Relations Service of the U.S. Department of Justice. This division of the U.S. Department of Justice offers support to communities dealing with police-community relations. Morrissey accepted the offer of support from the Department of Justice officials to work with community leaders to improve the entire community.

I appreciate the offer of support from federal officials who will help facilitate a dialogue to assist both short- and long-term relationships between our police and our community,

Chief Epperson stated.

Separately, Mayor Morrissey recognized the upcoming YWCA National Conversation on Race, which is scheduled for Oct. 29 and 30 at Rockford College. This will be the first time the National Conversation on Race has been held outside of California, and will be the only workshop in the Midwest region.

We look forward to partnering with other community agencies and the YWCA to support this workshop and continue our dialogue on improving race relations in our community,

added Mayor Morrissey.

For more information, contact George Henderson, Media Relations/Legal Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice, Community Relations Service, (202) 305-2964, george.henderson@usdoj.gov or James Ryan, City Administrator, City of Rockford, (815) 987-5550, jim.ryan@-rockfordil.gov.

From the September 2-8, 2009 issue