NYPD, a civic theater group created 10 years after Eric Garner’s death – Blogging Sole

New York – Every year, seven NYPD officers and seven civilians team up to create a theater and build bridges.

The project started 10 years ago Reaction to the infamous Eric Garner case. gwen carr, Garner’s motherwas a VIP guest at a recent rehearsal.

Whether NYPD or civilians, the performers are not actors, but receive training in performance and improvisation during a 10-week workshop called “Protect, Serve and Understand,” or TPSU. The message is that when people collaborate, talk to each other and really listen, opinions can change.

“I am very proud of them”

“I have never had a good interaction with any member of the NYPD,” participant Robert Jenkins said.

“I always wanted, even as a cop, for the community to understand that we are human beings,” one officer said.

Terry Grace is the founder of TPSU in Irondale, in partnership with the NYPD. It started after he saw a video of Eric Garner’s police chokehold death in 2014. Grace invited Carr to one of the dinners that begin each workshop, and she recently watched a training.

“Art is a part of the healing in my life,” Carr said. “I’m so proud of them because they’ve done this for 10 years.”

“I wanted a different look.”

CBS New York’s Dave Carlin asked Grace what officers learn through TPSU.

“For me to be a police officer more effectively, I have to overcome that barrier of my uniform,” Grace said.

And what does Grace think civilian participants take away from it?

“Cops are people,” Grace said.

Another participant said: “I wanted a different vision as a civilian.”

“We need to have meetings of the mind. We need to bridge the gap,” Carr said. “We have to remain vigilant. We have to keep moving forward.”

The public is invited to attend, and it is free.

Performances of “To Protect, Serve and Understand” are Friday and Saturday evenings, January 17 and 18in space in Irondale.

Dave Carlin

Dave Carlin has covered major national news and events of the past four decades including Superstorm Sandy and its impacts on the three states, Hurricane Hugo in South Carolina and Iniki on Kauai, Hawaii. He also covered the space shuttle program, the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, several wildfires in Southern California, the trial and execution of serial killer Ted Bundy in Florida, the 1994 police shooting of Tyke the elephant that escaped through the streets of Honolulu, and the 2009 film Miracle. Hudson , Bloomberg’s New York City Mayor’s Administrations via Adams and more.