Kids In Trouble (KIT) Police and Community Relations Forum

Photo: 2000 Kids In Trouble Forum featuring Harold Bell, NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown and Congressman Tom Davis

August 27, 2016

Harold Bell is a 4th generation Washingtonian, youth advocate and a DC radio and television sports talk show pioneer. On Saturday August 20, 2016, Harold hosted a one of a kind police and community relations forum held at the world-famous Ben’s Chili Bowl in Washington, DC. The restaurant is known world-wide for its famous chili half smokes, hot dogs and comedian Bill Cosby (who help put the restaurant on the world map). The forum menu not only served up good food but good advice relating to the history of police departments and the black community.

Harold has been called the “Godfather” of sports talk and now people are calling him the Godfather of Police Community Relations. For Harold, life on the streets in the past 50 years has seen the Good, the Bad and the Ugly when it comes to the police and the community.

Harold worked closely with the original Godfather, the late and former New York City Police Commissioner, Patrick Murphy. He met Mr. Murphy when he was the Director of the DC Police and Fire Departments and Harold was a Roving leader for the DC Recreation Department (Youth Gang Task Force). Murphy was hired in the late 60s by DC’s first black Mayor, Walter Washington.

The Police and Community Relations forum attracted law-enforcement officers from around the DMV (DC, Maryland and Virginia) and as far away as Philadelphia and LA (Bernie Chavis and Ken Price respectively).

The lack of understanding of Black America’s history of police and community relations can be found at the doorsteps of Black Media. You cannot report it if you don’t know it. To read Harold’s article about the successful meeting between the police and the community click on the link below:

http://theoriginalinsidesports.mlblogs.com/2016/08/26/color-blind-police-and-community-relations-forum-in-dc/