YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - This is the same use of force training YPD officers go through every year, but it's the first time the community has been able to sit in on this training.
That's not the only thing that made this morning's session different.
 
 
The video from Minneapolis three weeks ago will likely be shown in police training sessions for years to come.
As departments across the Valley and the nation re-examine their use of force tactics after the death of George Floyd, it's now happening squarely in the public lens.
 
"We've constantly got to be evaluating our level of force," said Youngstown Police Department Captain Kevin Mercer.
 
Which is why YPD invited the public to be part of its yearly use of force training.
 
 
"I think law enforcement has been in that perspective of 'the public wouldn't understand anyway because of what we see, what we deal with, they don't have the experience' and I think that's really kind of an old philosophy," Mercer said.
 
 
Most everyone at Tuesday's session agreed that those old philosophies are standing in the way of building new and valuable relationships.
 
 
"This is the first use of force training but we've also had community members, clergy in our community trainings over the years," said Guy Burney, director of Youngstown's Community Initiative to Reduce Violence.
 
 
"I am saddened at the same time though that we haven't begun this earlier," added activist Derrick McDowell. "It shouldn't take this much to get where we're at."
 
 
A big part of how we got here - the use of chokeholds in the case of George Floyd and others like Eric Garner.
Captain Mercer said that in extreme cases where an officer fears for their life, the courts allow it.
 
"Deadly force is deadly force," he said. "If you have to deploy deadly force, you're allowed to use whatever means necessary to protect you and others."