Image by Flickr user Thomas Hawk Image by 20091130-cop.jpg

The thinking goes: If only the police and the community were on better terms, more crimes could be solved or outright prevented.

Read more stories on this subject in our police topic page.But such a reality is hard to actualize when racial missteps and plain common courtesy are ignored. And so a program targeting North Charleston's police force better relate to its community (The Post and Courier reports the force is 78% white while the community is 49% black.)

The paper has the scoop on what's going on and why hopes are so high.

The programs follows up on similar efforts to better connect the police force to the community.