Pocatello police chief to hold meeting with LGBT community

Scott Marchand, Pocatello’s police chief, will hold a meeting Thursday night with the LGBT community.

Marchand said it’s not related to what happened in Orlando. He’s simply trying to improve relationships between the police department and members of the community.

Marchand said he wants to talk to the LGBT community about specific problems or concerns they may have. He wants to know if they see any issues in Pocatello that need to be addressed.

Marchand said this meeting has been in the works since Idaho’s U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson came to speak in Pocatello on May 25. Olson emphasized the importance of building trust and community relations. Marchand said that’s what he hopes to do at the meeting on Thursday. He opens to open lines of communication.

“I want to understand the community better, things that are going on,” he said. “Making sure that there are not issues that we’re missing or crimes that maybe are occurring somewhere that aren’t being reported because of trust issues or worry issues.”

He said he plans to meet with different members and groups in the community to better strengthen communication.

“Anything that helps the community,” Marchand said. “I can always do better as a police chief and so that’s what I want to know. What can I do and where can we improve as a department.”

The LGBT meeting will be held in the Pond Student Union building on Idaho State University’s campus Thursday night at 6 p.m.