New London — Police officer and City Councilor Anthony Nolan only made it through a few slides of his “What to do when stopped by the police,” presentation Friday when the crowd took over.

More than 40 people attending the public forum at Madry Temple Church peppered Nolan with questions, shared stories about their own mostly frustrating experiences with police and sought solutions to what many said was a disconnect between community members and officers.

With instances of police brutality highlighted in recent instances across the country, Nolan urged people to look beyond the few bad players that inhabit police departments everywhere.

But Teresa Vasquez was among others to say she simply doesn’t trust police because of her experiences that include getting pulled over and intimidated by a host of responding New London officers, “for a broken taillight.”

As for getting New London youth involved in the law enforcement profession, Vasquez said that will be a tall order.

“How are you going to get kids to want to do that? The kids watch TV. They follow social media. What incentive can there be at this time with everything going on?” she said.

Nolan said that part of the solution starts with the parents and their attitudes towards police.

Others suggested more police need to live in the city and be more visible on- and off-duty in the community in order to gain the trust of residents.

“If you guys don’t meet us halfway, how do you expect to gain trust?” asked Curtis Goodwin. “I myself go out and feel targeted.”

Acting Police Chief Peter Reichard, who attended the forum with Capt. Brian Wright, said the “us and them” mentality needed to end.

He said that because of staffing shortages, police are less likely to participate in community events, and newer officers “haven’t even had the ability to walk a beat in a neighborhood.” Walking beats, he said, helps immerse the officers in the community rather than constant responses to incidents.

He said he continues to work to get the department up to strength and allow more interactions with community members.

“We have some phenomenal officers in this city,” Reichard said.

“I’d like to meet them,” answered someone in the crowd, which elicited laughter.

Others in attendance at Friday’s forum included City Council members Wade Hyslop, Erica Richardson and Efrain Dominguez. Newly elected Police Community Relations Committee Chairwoman Kris Wraight and at least one member of the NAACP were also involved in Friday’s discussion.

Nolan said he expected and welcomed the dialogue that occurred Friday and would continue his series of forums in the coming weeks. He said more youth were not in attendance Friday because it was prom night.

g.smith@theday.com

Twitter: @SmittyDay