Tension between the island’s police department and the community have been tense since the fatal shooting of a mentally ill man in 2010. One local group will again tackle the topic head-on.

Islanders for Collaborative Policing will hold its next public forum at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 11 at Bethany Lutheran Church.

The event will focus on mental illness as well as how police officers handle those who are mentally impaired.

Special guests include Joe Roszack of Kitsap County Mental Health, Bill Mosiman of the Bainbridge Island School District, Lis Eddy of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, Officer Dave Shurick of the Poulsbo Police Department, and Lieutenants Chris Jensen and Bob Day of the Bainbridge Island Police Department.

Father Dennis Tierney of St. Barnabas Church will serve as moderator at the forum.

The event takes on the topic of law enforcement and mental illness in the wake of the civil rights trial rooted in the shooting of Doug Ostling.

Ostling, who was mentally ill, was shot and killed by a Bainbridge police officer in October 2010 after he met police officers at his door with a raised, double-bladed ax in his hands.

His family filed a lawsuit against the city, and the family was awarded $1 million in a jury decision earlier this year.

Bethany Lutheran Church is located at 7968 Finch Road NE.