The stage at Aquinas Institute was stripped of fanfare. Chairs were arranged in a circle, mindful of the standards of social distancing.

After introductions, it didn’t take long for the conversation to turn thoughtful and honest.

A series of roundtable discussions took place Tuesday at the high school. It involved young adults between the ages of 16-22, and law enforcement from Rochester Police, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and New York State Police.

Taylor Norris will be a senior here next fall. She wanted the officers, deputy and trooper present at the event to know about the conversation with her parents that shaped her earliest thoughts of police.

“Obviously, everybody knows about ‘the talk,'” she said. Her peers nodded and smiled.

“If you’re an African-American female or male, you know about the talk,” Norris said.

Karen Iglesia said she told her son if he was ever pulled over, to keep his hands visible on the wheel.

“We give them the talk: Put your hands in the 10 and 2 (position). Put your hands like this,” she said.

It’s all news to Rochester Police Officer James Larue, who had patrolled Genesee Section for 14 years.

“I didn’t know about ‘the talk,'” he said. “I step out of my car every day and talk to people in the street, and that never came up. I know it exists now.”

Violent images are fueling nationwide calls for police reform. This group of teens and cops took a small, but meaningful step by showing up Tuesday, and letting their guard down.

New York State Trooper Jason Klewicki learned about what a police encounter feels like – when you’re on the other side.

“When they see police going by they think, ‘I can’t be out past 10; once it gets dark I have to go home. I can’t have my hoodie up.’ Those are things that never crossed my mind,” he said.

Images taken in our community for the last two weeks show police and demonstrators facing off, clearly on opposite sides.

“I think where we’re struggling right now is we’re not looking at it through the lens of the other person,” said Lt. Jeff Lafave of the Rochester Police Department.

Meeting face-to-face in a different environment became the beginning of a bridge built in an afternoon.

“They were able to hear that we do listen to them and we do care about them. Shame on us for not letting them know that,” said Deputy Hector Sotomoyer.

At the end, it was clear both sides want better.

“The actions of one has made brothers in blue feel attacked, and minorities such as myself feel the same way,” said Simeon Heard, a recent high school graduate. “So, instead of being us versus them, it has to be us versus the problem.”

“It’s not black versus white,” he added. “It’s right versus wrong.”

— 13 WHAM