Congressman Dave Reichert, R-Auburn, who served in law enforcement for 33 years, including eight years as King County sheriff, announced on Wednesday his participation in a working group to examine police accountability, aggression towards law enforcement and public safety concerns related to these issues.

The bipartisan working group will hold a series of roundtables, starting with a private roundtable in Washington, D.C., to candidly discuss the issues fueling excessive force used by law enforcement and attacks against police officers. Outside leaders will also be invited to meet with the working group.

Reichert issued the statement below on the formation of this working group:

“I understand that in many neighborhoods across America, the wounds are deep and the rift is wide,” Reichert said. “It will take time and hard work to regain the trust and civility that has been lost. It must begin and end by recognizing that we are all on the same team. I believe that by working with my colleagues on this working group and challenging ourselves to focus on our aligned goal of keeping our communities safe, crime in our cities will decline and lives of young men and women will be saved.”

The working group is chaired by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI). Additional members of the working group include: Reps. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Susan Brooks (R-Ind.), Will Hurd (R-Texas), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Cedric Richmond (D-La.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), and Robin Kelly (D-Ill.).

The first private roundtable will be Thursday, July 14. The working group has invited Rev. DeForest B. Suares, Jr., the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens in Somerset, N.J., and Deborah A. Ramirez, the executive director for Partnering for Prevention and Community Safety Initiative and Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law, to participate.