Over the course of about eight months, Weld County experienced four fatal police officer-involved shootings.

In the wake of the August 2014 death of Jacinto Zavala, 21, of Greeley, a group of residents formed Police Accountability in Weld County to identify common concerns from families of victims of fatal officer-involved shootings, to brainstorm suggestions about how to reduce the number of police shootings and to ultimately engage in conversation to build trust between community members and local law enforcement agencies in Weld County.

On Thursday, more than 100 residents and the heads of several Weld County law enforcement agencies took the first step in establishing that community dialogue during a forum at University of Northern Colorado’s University Center. The meeting was attended by Greeley Police Chief Jerry Garner, Evans Police Chief Rick Brandt, Weld County Sheriff Steve Reams and Weld District Attorney Michael Rourke.

During the meeting, which was moderated by Police Accountability member Sylvia Martinez, Weld County’s law enforcement heads heard from the family members of Zavala, Michael Rodriguez, Jimmy Trevino, Raymond Garcia and Raul Alaniz Jr., who all died as a result of an officer-involved shooting.

In addition, several residents posed questions to the panel of law enforcement representatives, which ranged from a lack of transparency during investigations, holding officers accountable for their actions and increasing diversity in law enforcement agencies to suggesting officers in Weld County adopt policies to require officers to wear body cameras.

The overarching theme, however, was a lack of compassion by law enforcement officers to the families of the victims. Almost every family member who spoke Thursday said they had learned about a family member’s fate from friends, social media or the newspaper, not from officers.

Although they weren’t able to address each and every concern, the panel touched on family notification, transparency and how they hold officers accountable.

Garner agreed with the crowd that notifying the family should be priority No. 1 and that there has been a shortcoming to that affect in recent shootings. However, several members of the panel also noted it is the responsibility of the coroner to notify families of a death.

“If I have to make another county official upset by releasing information too early, then that’s what I’m going to do,” Garner said.

Rourke touched on the lack of transparency in investigations and directly addressed legislation in the Colorado General Assembly that would prohibit the district attorney’s office from investigating a shooting in its own jurisdiction.

“Police officers don’t work for me, they work with me,” he said. “The vast majority of law enforcement officers in this community are very, very good at what they do, and I don’t want an outside agency to come investigate a crime in a community that I represent. That is my obligation until the legislature tells me otherwise.”

Brandt said his office recently stopped accepting applications for several openings at the Evans Police Department, estimating the number of applicants was in the hundreds. However, he guessed minorities accounted for about five percent of the total.

Reams, who addressed the crowd last, admitted he was a little apprehensive about attending Thursday’s forum given the emotionally charged topic. He agreed there is room for improvement, but said the community would need to address its issues as though driving on a two-way street to be successful.

“This meeting isn’t necessarily about the tragic stories we heard tonight, but about trust and it’s obvious you don’t feel you can trust us all of the time,” he said. “There are gaps to be filled, outreaches to be made and I’ll reach out to you, but I need you to reach back.”

Martinez concluded the meeting by asking if the panel could reconvene in about two to three months.