Attempts by two police departments to celebrate Black History Month are generating criticism online.

The Columbus Division of Police unveiled "History 1" this month. The police cruiser features red, black, green and yellow striping. It says "Black History Month" on the hood and there is a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the back windshield.

"Be the peace you wish to see in the world," the quote says.

People online were quick to criticize the vehicle considering the current climate surrounding policing and communities of color. One user pointed to statistics from policescorecard.org, which show the Columbus Police has been involved in 48 police killings between 2013 and 2021.

Another user pointed to a study that shows Columbus Police disproportionally used force on Black residents between 2017 and 2019.

Despite the criticism, Columbus Police said the cruiser will be in neighborhoods and at community events throughout the month.

The Miami Police Department also faced criticism after unveiling its Black History Month vehicle.

Many people responded to pictures the department posted on Twitter, claiming the vehicle was in poor taste.

"This is such a horrible look. I can't even imagine how this got approved," a user wrote.

The police department said some of the force's first Black police officers were at the unveiling. Additionally, the Miami Community Police Benevolent Association, a predominantly Black police union, was part of the event, which it called a "celebration."

If Sheriff Aaron Appelhans has one message, it’s that change can happen anywhere.

Born in a big city, Appelhans never thought he’d go into law enforcement, but life has a way of changing directions when a local chief approached him about an officer job.

"Truth be told, I told him, I was like, 'I'm not a big fan of law enforcement. That's not something I think I really want to do,'" he laughed.

He ended up becoming something he loved. Ten years later, a new opportunity knocked—to become the Albany County Sheriff, and in turn, become Wyoming’s first-ever Black sheriff.

"I was like, well, there's an opportunity, you know, it's and I knew that the agency had a whole host of issues, some of which that I figured I could definitely deal with that," he said.

Although he’s had the position for about a year, he’s already made changes to the department.

"When you work within the system, you can see the things that it does well, you can see its flaws. You can see its loopholes, you can see all of its cracks," he said.

His main goal is to fix the culture. In a rural town in the middle of the country, he made the department more transparent in dealing with the public. He started making the path to drug and alcohol rehab for repeat offenders clearer and he focused on recruitment, specifically who he was recruiting.

"Law enforcement traditionally has a really terrible job in terms of recruitment. They recruit the same type of people over and over and over again. And it creates these situations you see across the country where maybe your police force doesn't necessarily represent the community that you serve," said Appelhans.

In less than a year, he’s filled 19 deputy positions with people of different backgrounds and ethnicities. Some of the people on the force haven’t liked the changes and left. Appelhans has even fired someone for past racist behavior, but he says all these are necessary steps toward cultural change.

"We're in the people business and we're not into excluding people, so we're going to be as inclusive as we possibly can."

He’s looking to hire three more people in the coming months, continuing to build his vision of a more inclusive, community-focused force.

As his story spreads of what he’s able to do in a small town, he wants to make it clear: change can happen in the most unlikely places, and anyone interesting in making that change shouldn’t be afraid to take that initial step.

"Sometimes you gotta be the first so that second, third and fourth can thrive as well," he said. "So, take that chance. Got to take that opportunity when it comes in and then go create that opportunity for yourself."

The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved legislation aimed at preventing police misconduct that Democrats named in honor of George Floyd, whose death in police custody sparked nationwide calls to overhaul policing and address racial injustice.

House Democrats originally introduced and passed the bill — titled the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act — last year in the wake of Floyd's death, but it never passed in the Senate, which was under Republican control at the time. Supporters of the bill say it would improve law enforcement accountability and work to root out racial bias in policing.

Democrats now control the Senate, which has a 50-50 partisan split with Vice President Kamala Harris acting as the tie breaker. But most legislation in that chamber still requires 60 votes to overcome a filibuster and it's not clear there would be enough Republican support to get the legislation across the finish line in the Senate.

Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat who is leading police overhaul efforts in the House, told reporters on Wednesday, "We are still trying to transform policing in the United States" and said that she is "confident that we will be able to have a bipartisan bill in the Senate that will reach President Biden's desk."

The legislation would set up a national registry of police misconduct to stop officers from evading consequences for their actions by moving to another jurisdiction. It would ban racial and religious profiling by law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels, and it would overhaul qualified immunity, a legal doctrine that critics say shields law enforcement from accountability.

According to a fact sheet on the legislation, the measure would allow "individuals to recover damages in civil court when law enforcement officers violate their constitutional rights by eliminating qualified immunity for law enforcement." The fact sheet also states that the legislation would "save lives by banning chokeholds and no-knock warrants" and would mandate "deadly force be used only as a last resort."

Discussing next steps for the legislation, Bass said ahead of the House vote, "We will begin those discussions with the Senate immediately after the bill is passed," adding, "Over the last several weeks, discussions especially with Sen. Tim Scott and Sen. Cory Booker have been under way."

Scott, a South Carolina Republican who led Senate GOP efforts to address policing in the wake of Floyd's death, said earlier in the week, "I'm talking to both sides and hopefully we'll come up with something that actually works."

Scott also said, "What I'm interested is in finding a path forward on areas where we agree. we have not gotten to a place where we agree on qualified immunity."

When the policing bill passed the House last year, it was approved largely along party lines amid Republican opposition with three Republicans crossing party lines to vote in favor: Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Will Hurd of Texas, who has since retired from Congress, and Fred Upton of Michigan.

The House made plans to vote on the bill Wednesday night, but the vote had earlier been slated for Thursday.

A Democratic aide told CNN earlier Wednesday that there was discussion of the House staying late to avoid coming in Thursday in light of Capitol Police warning about security risks.

U.S. officials have alerted lawmakers to a potential threat against the U.S. Capitol on March 4, for which security has been enhanced as a precaution, less than two months after the Capitol complex was stormed and lawmakers' lives were threatened by rioters.

In an effort to address growing tensions between police departments and the communities they serve, some departments are turning to new ways of community outreach in hopes of rebuilding trust that’s been lost.

Kelly Fenner at the Baltimore County Police Department has taken on a new role for the department. It’s a position created in hopes of reestablishing trust between the department and the community. Her title: Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

As a Black woman in law enforcement, this 30-year veteran of the force says she has a unique perspective on the current state of affairs.

“It put me in a unique position because I see both sides. My being a Black woman in a community that’s been underrepresented and underserved for so long,” she said.

The City of Baltimore and its surrounding counties have long had a painful, complicated history rooted in racism and conflict. Fenner’s job is to work to repair that fragile relationship between the police and the community.

“We’re just looking for progression, not perfection,” she added.

So, how does a police department work to rebuild trust right now? In Baltimore County, they’re starting inside the department by deploying various kind of empathy training.

“We have to start looking at ourselves in the mirror before we can change how we’re perceived outside the agency,” Fenner said.

Community outreach is also a pivotal part of Fenner’s job. Over the course of the past few months, she’s hosted various candid community conversations. Most are hosted online because of COVID-19, but the idea is for officers in the department to be able to listen to residents and understand what they’re thinking and feeling.

“This is a slow burn, nothing happens overnight. We did not get here overnight and it’s going to take time for that to change,” she said.

TAYLOR, Mich. — An auxiliary police officer has been removed from the Taylor Police Department after posting an explicit status on Facebook following the verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.

Kevin Leblanc served as an auxiliary officer — an unpaid volunteer — for 10 years in the Taylor Police Department. However, the city’s police chief confirmed that he’s been removed from the force for posting an explicit status after Chauvin was found guilty of murder and manslaughter in connection with the death of George Floyd.

Shortly after the verdict was handed down on Tuesday, Leblanc posted the words “B*** S***” to Facebook. In the comments, Leblanc wrote “F*** Floyd Appeal appeal not a fair trial.”

Taylor Police Chief John Blair confirmed that the department was notified about the Facebook post in an email from a concerned party.

“We took immediate action. It’s not appropriate,” Blair said. “A man lost his life. I neither know a police officer in public or private that supports what the former officer did to Mr. Floyd.”

Auxiliary officers in Taylor are unpaid and have no police powers. However, they represent the force during special events and are allowed to carry guns on the job.

A photo emailed to Scripps station WXYZ in Detroit shows Leblanc in uniform working an event in 2012 featuring former Detroit Pistons basketball star Isiah Thomas and along with two other police officers.

When asked if he though Leblanc’s comments were racist, Blair said he didn’t know Leblanc and did not wish to “label somebody a racist without truly knowing them.”

“I think it’s very insensitive. I think it’s very inappropriate and very unprofessional,” Blair said. “It’s not the image the city of Taylor nor the Taylor Police Department wants to convey.”

Leblanc declined an interview request and has since deleted his Facebook posts about Floyd.

This story was originally published by Jim Kiertzner on Scripps station WXYZ in Detroit.