Former Protester Helping CMPD Improve Response to Tense Situations

CHARLOTTE, NC – One year ago Charlotte resident Greg Jackson confronted officers in Uptown after the death of Keith Scott.

But the murder of a protester in the crowd, Justin Carr, led Jackson to take a different approach.

“You know it’s OK to have a problem and find a solution but we don’t want to lose our lives just because of that,” he says.

Today, Jackson, co-founder of the group Heal Charlotte is working with police to make sure protests never turn violent and deadly again.

“It’s really important for them to humanize themselves,” Jackson says.

Recently he helped train 40 officers by re-enacting the Keith Scott protests to look for ways police can help de-escalate tensions.

“Showed them how the empathize, and sympathize, with the community, when we’re going through these times of duress and unrest and not be robotic,” he explains.

Jackson says he’s confident if similar protests started up again, things would be different.

“They get deployed when we have these type of problems in the city. They leave with business cards instead of tickets, it’s an amazing thing that’s happening and I’ve got a lot of respect for those officers,” he says.