Arlington police officers visit 602 Barbershop to talk about policing as part of the ShopTalk program. COURTESY One CommunityUSA
By Mariana Rivas Until recently, Landter Goodrich said, he never saw the police officers who patrol the Como area near his 10-year-old House of Fades barbershop. Now, an officer stops by the barbershop several times a month as part of a community-building effort called ShopTalk. “He started building this relationship where he just stopped through,” Goodrich, who is co-owner of the barbershop, said. “Now anytime he just has a little time, [he] just sees how everything’s going.”ShopTalk was started by One CommunityUSA, a nonprofit organization, to combat widening divides between police and communities, particularly communities of color. Officers make a point to go to local barbershops and beauty salons, businesses known to be gathering places for Black and Latino communities. They talk to customers and employees about policing mistakes, safety precautions and any other concerns.
When Goodrich first heard about ShopTalk and that police would be coming by often, he was skeptical.
He knows a lot of his customers aren’t comfortable around cops, he said.
For Goodrich, it’s important that his shop is a safe space, a place to talk about mental health, sports or politics with no judgment.
“Me personally as a man, sometimes, you don’t have that space to talk,” Goodrich said.
He said the regular visits by officers hasn’t changed that. It’s proven to be a good “open space to just talk about certain things [like] why sometimes the community feels a certain type of way about the police,” Goodrich said.
That’s why the program was started, said One CommunityUSA founder Toni Brinker.
ShopTalk brings together “the two groups that have to come together in order for us to build a safe, secure and thriving neighborhood,” she said.
ShopTalk is in 11 cities, five shops and salons in Fort Worth and in many more shops in North Texas. Organizers hope to reach 40 shops in Fort Worth in the next three years, Brinker said.
One CommunityUSA is the bridge between officers and salons, Brinker said. The organization reaches out to both sides to see how ShopTalk is going. It also hosts speaking events related to safety and crime at barbershops for residents to attend.
Fort Worth police visit a local barbershop. Officers regularly stop by shops and beauty salons in communities of color to talk about policing as part of a program called ShopTalk. Courtesy OneCommunityUSA
Although officers had been informally stopping by local businesses to try to build meaningful relationships, Fort Worth public relations officer Tracy Carter said ShopTalk gave them the push to make it official.
When Carter goes to barbershops, there’s no schedule or agenda.
“The conversation just kind of flows,” Carter said. “It’s nothing scripted. The only thing I can say is scripted is probably the ShopTalk name.”
Barbershops and beauty salons have been good places to talk to Fort Worth residents, Carter said.
“People go to barber and beauty shops to feel good,” he said. “And at that time, it’s easy for people to be a little bit more vulnerable.”
He said the program has led to more investment from both officers and the community. People he’s met at the barbershop he frequents take their kids to Mavericks games with officers and join regular community meetings and active shooter trainings.
“When you get people coming from all different walks of life discussing different things, not saying you’re going to accomplish every goal, but you get to learn perspectives from both sides,” Carter said.
Carter said the program has reached all sides of Fort Worth, and they hope to continue to grow it.
Goodrich, the co-owner of House Fades barbershop, said he also hopes police continue their effort. He sees ShopTalk as a start to mend strained relationships between police and historically Black communities.
But Goodrich said he still carries some skepticism.
If police mistreat community members, “now they’re back at zero,” he said. “They got to start all over again because now we got the shield back up again like, ‘Oh they finna kill somebody else or you’re about to put your knee in someone’s neck.’”
Goodrich said he doesn’t shy away from asking officers tough questions. He said he always brings up the stories of Black people killed by police such as George Floyd in Minneapolis and Atatiana Jefferson in Fort Worth.
“We talk about a lot of them,” he said. “We want to know their perspectives on it.”
Goodrich said he’s been able to see officers as people doing their jobs.
“You want to go home to your family just as well as that person,” he said.
He said he thinks the relationship building could make Como safer.
Barbershops are a place “where a lot of people come in and out: mothers with kids, young men,” he said. Police can get to know a community at a barbershop.
“Once you start to get to know the people, the people get to know you,” he said. “So when something starts to happen, you can probably … calm the situation down before it excels a little bit.”
“Hopefully it stays that way and don’t nothing detour their progress,” Goodrich said.