LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Weeks of protests and unrest have left many across the state asking the same question. "Where do we go from here?"

On a hot Friday night in a church basement residents, local pastors, and the interim police chief along with officers attempted to answer that question.

Acting Louisville Metro Police Chief Robert Schroeder took over the department after the shooting death of David McAtee.

“Our country is hurting. Our city is hurting. The police officers in our department are hurting. There’s been a lot of stuff going on in the community and this is really the first step towards moving forward getting people together and starting to have those one-on-one conversations in order to help move us to the next level. You know, on the police department you heard a lot of people talk about listening. We need to listen to what the community expects of us. That’s how we do our job effectively and that’s how we serve the community,”said Schroeder. 

Some in attendance say they are hoping for more than the lip service they’ve received in the past when it comes to better policing. They say something about the Black Lives Matter movement feels different this time and change is hopefully on the horizon.

“I leave here feeling like this is a start another start and this time if we keep persisting if we don’t give up that we can cross the finish line this time,” Diane Hagan said. 

Folks we spoke to were positive as they broke bread after the meeting. After all, Louisville is their city and they want to feel like they always have a place at the table

“You have that bad element that exists but if you are silent about it then you are apart of it and I think once again now that the veil is off we all know what we are looking at. Everybody knows what they are facing going forward. I think change is going to come because it has to come,'' Grandmaster GM Khalid Raheem said.