Members of the community watch a video on how to interact when stopped by a police officer.

LIVE OAK, Fla. — Sons of Allen, the men’s ministry of Ebenezer AME Church, hosted a prayer breakfast and public discussion Saturday with local law enforcement about improving police-community relations and how to interact when stopped by the police.

After a prayer by Pastor Charles Graham and a scripture reading from James Lawrence, moderator Gary Caldwell welcomed guests and introduced Live Oak Police Chief Buddy Williams.

Williams spoke about the importance of improving relations between law enforcement and the community.

“Some of the things we need to do as a law enforcement community is to recognize the importance and need of diversifying and improving community relations,” said Williams. It’s easy to talk about doing something, but harder to make it happen. What we are doing today, I see it as 100 percent success.”

Although only about 40 people attended the event—the majority being law enforcement officers and members of the church—Williams said Saturday’s event was a success.

“We have the crowd that we need,” he said. “What we have is community leaders and people who can make a difference in the community. So maybe we have community leaders here first to see where we go next.”

Williams talked about not blaming one group for the current situation in the country, but coming together to make a change.

“It’s a togetherness community problem,” he said. “It’s the citizens, the police, the judicial system. If we accept what’s going on nationwide and live with it, it’s our fault that we failed.”

Sheriff Tony Cameron spoke about law enforcement working with the school district to give a message at the beginning of each school year to students. Caldwell, the moderator of Saturday’s discussion and assistant principal at Suwannee High School, said he approved of the decision.

Cameron also talked about how to act when pulled over by the police. His advice was to remain calm, not make quick movements, and keep both hands on the wheel when approached by an officer.

He also said courtesy is important to remaining safe—that both the officer and person being pulled over need to be courteous.

The event ended with a question and answer session and closing prayer from Pastor Graham.