Dillard High School students express frustrations with police in Fort Lauderdale

Students given opportunity to ask panel questions after listening to speakers

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. ā€“ Students at Dillard High School got a chance Wednesday to explain how their experiences have shaped their opinions of police.

Students didn't hold back as they went up to a microphone at the Fort Lauderdale high school and asked a panel questions.

One student asked how they are expected to trust police when departments don't police themselves.

Officers and experts on the panel tried to answer as best as they could.

"There's a lot of conversations that hit some serious questions and all of the answers aren't here right now, but the dialog is what's important," said Michael Gregory, Fort Lauderdale assistant police chief. "We can come together, we can communicate with each other, share perspectives on all of these different issues and try to get closer."

Some people weren't thrilled with how the event went.

Jasmen Rogers with the Black Lives Matter alliance felt that too much time was spent in the beginning listening to politicians speak, especially since many of those politicians left before the students even got their chance to be heard.Ā 

"Student-centered to me seems pretty obvious in that the student should be taking up most of the conversations with their questions, comments (and) concerns," Rogers said.

Students listened to speakers for about an hour and a half and had about 30 minutes to ask questions.

Gregory maintains this is just a starting point, and that law-enforcement authorities learned plenty of lessons from the students Wednesday, including that they need more face-to-face interactions with them instead of focusing too much on social media.