Earlier this month, The Charleston Forum announced their adaption of the 2020 program due to the current COVID-19 healthcare crisis. The online webinar series was kicked off by Congressman Jim Clyburn on April 25th. On May 6th at 2 pm, the Forum will be joined by Art Acevedo, the Chief of Police for the Houston Police Department.
Chief Acevedo was sworn into office in 2016 and leads a department of 5,300 sworn law enforcement officers and 1,000 civilian support personnel in the fourth largest city in the United States. As a proponent of community policing, Chief Acevedo refers to the proven practice as “Relational Policing,” which is an opportunity to forge a relationship with each and every person a department member comes in contact with.
As the first Hispanic to lead the Houston Police Department, Chief Acevedo brings a unique understanding to the concerns of the diverse communities in Houston. He currently serves as the President of the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
The conversation with Chief Acevedo will continue the effort to advance the Forum's mission of addressing issues of race and inequity. The Chief will focus his conversation on criminal justice and policing, which is one of the four focus areas of the Forum.
The Charleston Forum plans to announce additional speakers to discuss our community's most important issues as they lead up to the annual event, which will also be hosted online.
This June, in commemoration for our community members lost at Mother Emanuel five years ago and in recognition of the 350th Anniversary of Charleston’s founding, The Charleston Forum will reveal the results of a survey showing the attitudes residents in our tri-county area have about issues of race. The survey concentrates on The Charleston Forum's principal topics of education, economics, policing and criminal justice, and the future of the past.
To register for the event, click here.
To stay up to date on events hosted by The Charleston Forum, follow them on Facebook and Twitter, or visit www.thecharlestonforum.com.
About The Charleston Forum
The Charleston Forum is a community project that strives to provide a dialogue on race that moves the conversation forward, with no pre-set agenda but with a common purpose. The Charleston Forum began in 2016 as a group of local political, business, educational and religious leaders who wanted to provide an outlet to discuss race across many different topics. The Forum has received significant collective support from Charleston leaders including Mayor John Tecklenburg, former Mayor Joe Riley, Reverend Joe Darby and many others.
