WARREN, Ohio - The City of Warren is declaring racism as a public health crisis and working to bridge the gap between police and the community.

At Wednesday's City Council meeting, Mayor Doug Franklin spoke about the creation of "The Police and Community Trust Initiative" aimed at reinforcing trust between the Warren City Police Department and the community it serves. This group will include Community activists, ministers, law enforcement, and community leaders.

"We know that the human cost, the social cost, and the monetary cost is tremendous if we just do nothing," said Franklin. "And we are not going to do that."

Also at Wednesday's meeting, the council voted unanimously to declare racism a public health crisis.

Council members Cheryl  Saffold along with Helen Rucker and Ronald White sponsored this resolution similar to what has been done in other cities across Ohio.

Council is also creating a racism task force.

 Each council member will select an appointee to help address issues that affect the health of the African American Community.

The task force will be implemented immediately.

We will ask the task force to give the city a five-year plan and we will ask them to identify various problems," said Sixth Ward Warren City Council Member Saffold

The group will focus on ways to improve the overall wellbeing of the community.