The Wichita Police Department got wide news coverage this week for an event that set a good example for other departments to follow to improve their community relations.

A group of Wichita residents were planning to stage a protest last Sunday in response to recent police violence in other cities, but after meeting with Police Chief Gordon Ramsay for several hours, plans for the event took a turn. Instead of a protest march, the event turned into a barbecue with police and community members sharing a meal at a local park.

Smaller conversations over dinner turned into a public forum that gave hundreds of residents an opportunity to step to the microphone and ask Chief Ramsay questions. He advised people who felt they were being mistreated by police not to argue with officers at the scene when their behavior could aggravate the situation. But after the incident, he said, people should contact his office so footage from body cameras worn by Wichita officers could be reviewed. The chief added that he had “zero tolerance for racial profiling or racial bias.”

Instead of a protest that might have promoted divisions and fear, residents and police had a chance to get to know one another a little and perhaps assuage some of their fears and bridge some of their divisions. One community picnic won’t eliminate all the issues related to racial violence or attacks on police officers, but the dialogue that took place in Wichita is a good step toward better understanding and better relations between police and the people they are charged with serving.