Members of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and Soldiers Memorial AME Zion Church invite the Salisbury community to a presentation by Lt. Koula Black of the Salisbury Police department on Monday, Sept. 18, at 6 p.m. The presentation will be held in the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Parish Hall, downtown Salisbury.

“We welcome the community to join us as we learn about the training process for police,” said Bonnie Duckworth, deacon at St. Luke’s. “This is a follow-up to questions that were raised about police during a book study this past summer when members of these two local congregations met together to study the book entitled ‘Just Mercy’ by Bryan Stevenson.”

Information about the training that local police receive particularly around issues of bias and diversity will be addressed. Information will also be presented on how officers are introduced to de-escalation strategies that will help them handle crisis situations. Following the presentation there will be time for questions from those in attendance.

Lt. Black currently holds the position of organizational development lieutenant with the Salisbury Police Department. Her primary responsibilities include the oversight of community policing initiatives, community engagement, peer support and officer development, recruitment and retention, diversity, equity and inclusion, and the school resource officer program. She has been featured in IACP’s “Police Chief” Magazine for her development of the Lotus Project.

St. Luke’s Episcopal is located at 131 W Council St. in Salisbury.