ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The St. Petersburg branch of the NAACP is reacting to changes being made at the St. Petersburg Police Department.

A NAACP delegation met with Chief Anthony Holloway on Thursday night.

“We want to develop an understanding of how the NAACP and the St. Petersburg Police Department can work together to ensure what happened in Minneapolis to George Floyd does not happen to anyone in St. Petersburg,” said branch president Nick Wright.

Wright says they discussed several things about how relations between police and the black community can improve.

There were three words Wright spoke about: respect, accountability and integrity.

“By reintroducing the word accountability, officers will know up front that they will be held accountable for their deeds and transgressions,” Holloway said.

Among changes the NAACP would like to see are improved hiring procedures, a mandatory use of body cameras, and more training that eliminates bias.

Wright says they will accept an invitation from SPPD to have someone sit in on their hiring panels going forward.

The NAACP also supports the addition of the new Community Assistance Liaison Team. It will be a unit of social workers that will answer non-violent calls.

“People requiring assistance will see a friendly face and be given the assistance they need without violence. That is a good day,” Wright said.

Chief Holloway addressed many changes at a news conference on Thursday, saying he is looking at changing things from top to bottom.

“Believe it or not, we still get calls of someone saying there’s an African American in the park who doesn’t look like us. We’re not coming to those calls. If he or she is not committing a crime, we’re not going to that,” Holloway said.

Both Holloway and Wright said there is a long way to go. However, they are both grateful for ongoing conversations.

The chief hopes to have many changes in place by October.