OK Justice Circle takes OKC residents and local police for a trip to Washington DC

A local justice group is taking some Northeast Oklahoma City residents and metropolitan area police officers to the nation’s capital, aimed at strengthening dialogue and building relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.

Leaders of the OK Justice Circle said there is room for two more attorneys now that Edmond Police Chief J.D. Younger has agreed to send a representative from his department and former Midwest City Police Chief Sid Porter has also agreed to join the group.

The Rev. Jon Middendorf, a member of the OK Justice Circle and senior pastor of the First Church of the Nazarene, said the weeklong trip scheduled for July will be free for participants. It is designed to bring Black residents of northeast Oklahoma City together with police department representatives for dialogue and an expanded opportunity to learn more about each other and listen empathetically.

He said he was optimistic about the potential for connection and movement toward peace.

“The whole purpose of the trip is to give people a chance to hear each other, see each other in a better light and then see if friendship can contribute more to achieving peace than protesting, and even policy work,” Middendorf said. “Obviously we still have to do the policy work and sometimes we have to do the protests. But I don’t know if we’ve invested in the power of connection yet in the way we could or should. there is potential in that.”

Middendorf said the trip will include a visit to the White House and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, a museum of the Smithsonian Institute located on the National Mall. The group will also visit the National Law Enforcement Museum. The pastor said U.S. Senator James Lankford helped the OK Justice Circle with aspects of the trip.

Younger, of the Edmond Police Department, said he had no hesitation in accepting the invitation for one of his officers to be part of the upcoming trip. He said he has attended OK Justice Circle’s Breaking Bread events. He said he felt the trip to Washington was a natural evolution of those community forums.

“I think the Edmond community as a whole has a philosophy of community policing, simply police and community working together,” Younger said. “So I think one of the fundamental elements of that is for police to remain engaged and aware and continually learn and try to understand different perspectives that may exist in our community.”

Middendorf will be part of the OK Justice Circle journey along with Wayland Cubit, another OK Justice Circle member. Cubit, a retired Oklahoma City police lieutenant, is currently director of security for Oklahoma City Public Schools and is running for sheriff of Oklahoma County.

“The OK Justice Circle just wants to build relationships from unlikely places to talk about justice and unity and what that looks like for every group,” he said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Justice Circle plans trip to DC for OKC police residents