SPOKANE, Wash. —
Petitions against "Killology" training in Spokane have now turned into protests pushing for its cancellation.
The training is a course for law enforcement officers that includes lessons about how officers should deal with officer-involved killings.
For nearly three hours, several protesters held an open dialogue about why they oppose the seminar. The march began at City Hall before protesters made their way to the Spokane County Courthouse.
While there, many of the speakers called on the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office to cancel the training that’s scheduled for October.
“That’s not something that serves the community of Spokane,” protest organizer Natíí Straub Said.
Sunday’s event in opposition to the training was led by Straub and the Human Rights Activist Coterie of Spokane.
Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has gone on record to say he would prefer an open dialogue with the community before making any cancellations.
Knezhovich says he sees the training as something that would benefit his officers' mental health in the event they had to take someone’s life.
Those opposed to the training say it's unnecessary, and goes against any kind of progress that would form stronger relationships between law enforcement and the community.
“Just getting to understand that in a very humanizing way is something that we’re going to have to do if we want to get this event shut down,” explained Straub. “If we want to get that Killology training turned around, we can’t fight fire with fire on this issue. We have to fight fire with water.”
Organizers say that over the past few weeks, protests have been slowing down in Spokane, but "Killology" is an issue they can’t sit idly by and allow.
The training is set to take place on October 27th. So far, there's no date set for an open forum involving the Sheriff's office and the community.