ALTOONA, Pa. (WTAJ) — Nation-wide marches and protests following the death of George Floyd have been sparking new conversations within law enforcement, especially here locally.

Sergeant Matthew Plummer from the Altoona Police Department says the march on Sunday, was eye-opening. Some APD officers knelt during the rally to show solidarity.

But Plummer says the most meaningful moment he had was a conversation with one of the speakers, Kendal Butler. He says “him and I sat down for two hours and it was really a personal talk where we found out that he and I aren’t very different at all… his message which I agree with is we can’t control what’s going on around the nation. However, we can have some say in what goes on here in our community.”

In Bedford, Sheriff Wayne Emerick says since the death of George Floyd, he’s been looking deeper into how his officers are handling situations. Sheriff Emerick says “we looked at positioning people when they’re in custody so not to lay them on their stomachs but maybe put them on a side where they can breathe…I think we should be definitely be doing some type of stepping up community policing and I think that that will stem from this and I think its given police a little more look at saying hey we need to be community-oriented and maybe this is the right step in trying to push towards that.”

Both officers say they’re proud of their communities for stepping up and bringing this to the attention of everyone else.