Clevelanders can watch police officers go through use-of-force training scenarios and ask questions at a police training event this Saturday. 

The Community Police Commission and the Cleveland Division of Police are asking the public to come to Garrett Morgan High School, where they can watch reality-based training scenarios. The hope is that residents will “gain insight on the rationale behind the officers’ actions,” said Charles Donaldson, chair of the Community Police Commission’s police training committee. 

Donaldson said it’s important to allow community members to ask police questions about their training and give them feedback on the spot. 

The commission held a similar event in December, where police demonstrated responses to three types of incidents. Those incidents covered when and how officers use their Taser, when they should use their gun instead of less lethal force, and how to respond to a report of a suspicious person.

A police academy instructor explained what was happening before and throughout the scenario and provided reasoning and context afterward before taking questions from the audience. 

People were given a trigger warning and were told they could skip watching a scenario or walk out at any time if the situation started feeling too heavy. 

Donaldson said the commission has made efforts to get a wider variety of people to attend the event. He sent an invitation to the LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland and to the local NAACP chapter. Commissioners also dropped off fliers at libraries and community centers, and an email blast went out to about 800 people letting them know about the event. 

He said he hopes police will implement changes based on the feedback they get at the event. 

The commission is also planning to start a bias-free policing work group where people can have input on how to address and get rid of possible biases in police training. 

“My hope is that if there is feedback received, that it will be taken into account and will be put into action,” Donaldson said.