(WSBT) In these final weeks leading up to Election Day, we're getting answers to your questions for the candidates.

Barbara from Elkhart is the mother of a South Bend police officer, and wants to know, “How do the candidates for South Bend mayor plan on bridging the gap between the community and the police force?”

In the spring of 2006 South Bend Police Officer Scott Severns was shot and killed. Seventeen-year-old Jeff Finley is now in prison for that shooting.

“That has to create tension both in the African American community on the police force and in the city at large,” said Republican candidate Juan Manigault. “So one of the things we have to do, and I think the mayor has to take the lead on this, is we need to look at racial harmony.”

Manigault knows who he would hire as police chief if elected. He wouldn't give us a name, but a description.

“He is a no nonsense kind of guy. He's a law and order type of guy,” Manigault told WSBT News. “And we have talked about how we're going to unify this city, by talking about respect and trust.”

Manigault says respect and trust would be built by helping citizens meet with police officers, especially young people, and re-defining officer beats.

“So that citizens know them and they know the citizens by name,” Manigault explained.

“I do believe there are segments of the community who do not have full trust in the police department at this point,” Mayor Steve Luecke said.

Luecke says building relationships is the key to building trust.

Part of the mayor's plan is community outreach programs like the South Bend Police Department’s boxing club. Chief Darryl Boykins teaches teens boxing, but the real point is relationship building.

The mayor says police officers regularly attend neighborhood meetings, getting to know the community. And there's a citizens’ police academy. The mayor believes a key to the future is attracting more minority officers to the police department.

“We've not had as much success as we would like, but we have had some success and we will continue to do that, because our police department and our city work force needs to represent and look like the community that we serve,” Luecke explained.

And voters in this community now have three weeks to make a decision on which candidate they will support.

South Bend's Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Juan Manigault.

Manigault says he told the FOP officers they must go into neighborhoods and respect citizens, because then he can go into neighborhoods and tell citizens to trust police officers.