BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11) -- A Brooklyn Community Theater is helping to improve community police relations.
The Irondale Ensemble Project has been hosting a 10-week workshop for members of the NYPD and members of the community. They will have public performances on Friday and Saturday at their location on South Oxford Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.
The "Protect, Serve and Understand" Program is the brainchild of actor Terry Greiss. He told PIX11 News he came up with the idea after watching the videotaped interaction between police and Eric Garner.
He said he felt no one was listening during that interaction. Greiss told PIX11 News that he reached out to then-Commissioner Bratton and got a positive response within two days to launch the training sessions.
Greiss said that the group of seven police officers and seven civilians "spend 10 weeks building that trust, trying to get past the fear of each other so they're talking to each other, they're listening."
James Harr, who has lived in New York City for 12 years, says he joined to get answers.
"I'm an abolitionist, so being able to confront them with a lot of the things I see wrong with policing in America today, seeing what their perspectives are," he said. "I've learned that a lot of these officers do face a lot of trials and they have difficult situations they have to face daily...I think there should be some understanding of the human behind the uniform."
Officer Will Ramos told PIX11 News he is from a family of police officers and wants to build a bridge between the NYPD and the community.
"That's one of the reasons I became a police officer, to change the mentality of everybody else and the community," he said.
Tickets for Friday and Saturday's public performances are available at the door or on their website at irondale.org.
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