On Saturday, the Kinston Police Department hosted community training sessions funded by the U.S. Department of Justice grant. The workshop is through a partnership with Polis technology and You & Five-O training firm and part of the T3 – Tact, Tactics, and Trust™ training. The purpose of the training is to offer this innovative community trust building training to our citizens, so we can continue to build our strong connections within our community.

Interim Chief Keith Goyette helped bring Polis’ training to Kinston. He said, “he wants us [Police Department and the community] to establish a good bond and be able to work together.”

In addition to providing a relationship with the Kinston community, the trainings are designed to prepare for “the inauguration of a new US DOJ grant-funded project that will use Polis’ technology to automatically analyze KPD body-worn camera videos in order to identify best practices in de-escalation and procedural justice. Data from the video analysis will be used for training, supervision, and to foster greater transparency.” (According to Kinston Police Department’s Facebook).

One of the trainers from the event was Dr. Jonathan Wender from Polis Solutions and he discussed what the T3 training’s purpose is. He said “the goal of T3 training to enhance officer’s capacity to make decisions that are safe, lawful and ethical.”

According to Polis Solutions’ website, “The Polis Solutions team integrates experience and expertise in policing, training and education, social science, technology development, and organizational leadership and reform. Our powerful ability to integrate operational and training experience with scientific research and technology development enables us to create effective, evidence-based solutions for our clients.”

The T3 Community Training took place on Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. with officers and community members at Kinston Neuse Regional Library, located at 510 N. Queen Street. The event had over 20 participants from the Kinston Police Department and community leaders. It is the first training of many to come based on the Department of Justice grant.