As part of Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, run by the U.S Department of state through IREX, I have been placed at Citizens Police Oversight Commission (CPOC), an institution that resonates well with what I do as the public relations officer for Jenda Police station in Malawi. The placement is strategic as it exposes fellows to hands on skills which help them to be better leaders in their line of work when they get back to Africa and continue improving their communities.

As part of my Professional development Experience, at CPOC, we went out with my Supervisor Taleah Grimmage, Director of Outreach and Constituent Services and took part in the National Night Out Event in 14th Police District, Northwest Region of Philadelphia City.

As part of the many things CPOC is mandated to do in the city, community outreach is one of them where people get the chance to learn about their rights, how to conduct themselves while in contact with the police, and how to file complaints against police.

The idea of meeting people in their community is that they should see police and other law enforcement agencies as part of their communities not the other way round where they are only called in, when there is a pressing issue. Notable people from the law enforcement agencies also come out to meet people in a formal, but an open way without going through normal channels if it were at the office. The purpose of these events is to make sure there is a good working relationship between the police and members of the community.

While at the event Mrs. Grimmage was kind enough to introduce me to several prominent officials such as Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel, Deputy Commissioner Myesha Massey, Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, Inspector Wesley Thomas, Captain Stuart McCoullum, Officer Raubert Hicks, State Representative Stephen Kinsey, and City Councilmember Cindy Bass.

The interactions that happened throughout the event exposed me to hands on skills on how to do  better work back home, since my role as Public Relations Officer for Jenda Police under Malawi Police Service, is to make sure that in my community there is a good working relationship between the police and people. In addition, I try to promote the idea that police and members of the community should work hand in hand in making sure they feel safe, and people are able to do their businesses without fear of crime.