DOTHAN, Ala. (WDHN) — In light of events in Memphis and the beating death of Yyree Nichols after a traffic stop.

Police forces nationwide are now under a microscope. One of the big topics among law enforcement organizations is the use of force, which can include officer-involved shootings

The City of Dothan saw an instance in February of last year.

When police were working a case of a stolen van on Montgomery Highway. Police say a driver of a truck started to roll towards officers and after warning him to stop and shot three times into the vehicle. The driver was later pronounced dead on the scene.

On Tuesday, officers from around Alabama gathered at Harvest Church to talk about how officer-involved shootings impact the officer during a shooting and afterward, as well.

Criminology Professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, Dr. David Klinger says the group he spoke to had about 9 or 10 officers who had been involved in an officer-involved shooting and other officers in the room had instances where they felt they had a lawful authority to shoot someone but didn’t take the shot

“The notion that somehow police are shooting more people. We don’t know that for sure,” Dr. Klinger said. “What we do know is over the last few years there has been a little bit of a rise but compared to the 1970s and whatnot. All the evidence is that police are shooting fewer people. It just depends on the timeline you look at.”

The 6th Annual Peer Support Conference was hosted by the Alabama Law Enforcement Alliance of Peer Support, which meets multiple times through the years thanks to a bill signed in 2018 that allows first responders to provide other first responders with peer support following trauma.