Austin black community responds to Breaion King arrest, call for better policing

Following this controversial arrest many people, including Austin's black community are calling for better "police-citizen" relations.

Vincent Harding has seen enough of controversial police-citizen videos. The Breaion King video has just added fuel to the controversy. He says aside from the rough arrest, it's the comments that made this most uncomfortable.

“When the officer's making the comments about African-Americans being more perceptive to violence I think it's awful and has no place in the Austin Police Department," Harding, chair of Travis County Democratic Party, said.

Harding says the situation could’ve taken a much safer route

“All he had to do was talk to her, give her a chance to calm down, but the officer decided that he wanted to get aggressive," he said.

“For some reason it continues to happen. That system and that cycle we have to quickly make that stop,” Meme Styles, founder of “Measure Austin, said.

The video was released after a series of shootings across the United States. Police departments across the country are shaken at this time, with the recent officer deaths as well. Chief Allen Banks of Round Rock has just received a national civil rights award, an award that honors unbiased policing.

“I was very humbled by it, very excited," he said.

Banks says when it comes to bridging the police-citizen divide, in his city it's all about communication and better policing

“When I took this position, one of the things I promised city officials was that I would work hard on community policing. That's what we're doing. Every single person, whether they're foreign or civilian personnel in Round Rock Police Department, has committed to taking care of this community," Banks said.

The common answer, when it comes to bridging the divide, is community policing. Will that alone solve a lot of the problems? There is only one way to find out.

"I think what officers need to do is relax and be peace officers," Harding said.