In an effort to better connect the Black community and local law enforcement, the Portage County NAACP has brought together safety forces from across the county for quarterly meetings the past three years.
Reney Romine, president of the Portage County NAACP, said this initiative has benefited all involved.
“We can’t connect if we don’t talk,” she said. “We hear so much about what’s happening to people of color with law enforcement, so we wanted to actually be proactive and meet with the safety forces ahead of time to collaborate, to build relationships with them and to enhance our community relations.”
Romine said many members of her executive team attend these meetings, along with police and community leaders from Portage County. The most officers come from Kent State University, she said.
The groups discuss a variety of topics, including what goes on during police training and what is said or done when police pull over vehicles during traffic stops. Many topics are pulled from surveys sent to safety officers, outside conversations with community leaders and information gathered during local NAACP events.

This initiative was a goal of Romine’s when she became president in 2022. The president before her met with individual law enforcement departments, or safety forces as Romine prefers to say, occasionally. The NAACP’s criminal justice chair met with them from time to time.
Now, with officials together in one room regularly, Romine said her organization is able to learn more about what safety forces do as members of law enforcement get to know each other better.
“The relationship building has been great, just collaborating, figuring out how we can work together to do something for the community,” Romine said. “We’re working on that piece, too. If something is going on and it’s in a particular city, we have the relationships with those chiefs that we can call them directly, and they know who we are.”
Kent City Police Chief Nicholas Shearer said he has attended every meeting so far.
“The meetings between law enforcement are an important part of our community engagement efforts,” Shearer said. “We know that, at times, there has been tension between law enforcement and the Black community because of incidents that have happened around the United States. Our goal in this partnership is to work together to bridge the gap and help reduce these tensions.”
Shearer said other collaborative topics law enforcement and the NAACP talk about throughout the year are how they can “reshape the image of law enforcement” in the Black community and the importance of recruiting minority officers.
Both Shearer and Romine mentioned there remains to be gaps across the nation between safety forces and the Black community. According to Romine, these gaps have great effects.
“Things that separate the community and the police, whether it’s in thinking, whether it’s what they feel about how they’re treated, mindset, when you see things in society – it impacts us,” she said. “Whether it’s happening locally or not, it doesn’t matter. It still impacts us.”
Chris Jenkins, interim director of public safety and chief of police for the Kent State University Police Services, is another regular attendee at these quarterly meetings.
In a joint email response, he and Sergeant Tricia Knoles said Kent State’s police department will usually have one or two of its sergeants in attendance at community events, which includes the NAACP’s meeting.
“It is so important to establish connections and to hear and understand perspectives from our community and our department,” Knoles and Jenkins wrote. “We have gained insight into our community and perspectives, as well as wonderful fellowship with our community. It is about understanding, being compassionate and further building public trust.”
The Portage County NAACP plans to hold an open public meeting with law enforcement officers this year. Romine said community members will be able to ask questions and share their thoughts, with directions and guidelines provided by the NAACP. A time and date are still in the works.
Shearer said these meetings will be beneficial for the community and will help highlight the partnership between safety forces and the NAACP.
“It is my hope and intent that this will further bridge the gap with the Black community, showing that we are actively working with the NAACP to move forward in a positive manner,” he said.
Knoles and Jenkins agreed.
“Any time that we are able to interact with our community in a positive way is beneficial,” they wrote. “We enjoy getting to know our community and allowing our community to get to know us, as well. We are police officers, but we are also people and part of our community. In attending these meetings or other community events, it is an opportunity for community members of all walks of life to learn our officers as individuals beyond the badge.”