NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk police hosted a Guns Down Community walk Wednesday night.
Officers, anti-gun violence advocates and residents came together in the Norview area to talk about solutions.
Police went out into the neighborhood to increase communication and trust between citizens and the force, bringing out many staff and even an ice cream truck to "break the ice."
"We want to reach out to even more to the citizens, let them know that we're here to help," said Captain Marc Bosch. "We want them to feel safe in their neighborhood... We're out here, chief all the way down to officers, to introduce ourselves... to hear their side of it and how we can do things better."
"I believe that the more you get these situations where the community understands that the police really want to have a relationship with those in the community as opposed to having this separation where the police are the bad guys," explained Nate Perkins, an anti-gun violence activist who attended the event. "You have to start somewhere and one way to start is with these community walks.
This is the second Guns Down community walk the Norfolk Police Department has hosted this year.