In collaboration with Open Society Foundations, John Jay College is hosting a workshop in New York City on September 4th and 5th on police-community partnerships that build confidence in the police as a resource for community safety as well as reduce violence. In cities around the country where police-community relations are strained or fractured, this workshop could not be more timely. The workshop begins on September 4th with a panel discussion about the pivotal role of policing in a democracy. National experts on civil rights, law enforcement, and violence prevention will lead a discussion about why traditional police practices are failing and how new approaches to public safety can support rather than erode the hallmarks of a democracy: equality, opportunity and civic participation. On September 5th the workshops provides and in-depth exploration into two well-developed violence reduction programs: the Comprehensive Violence Reduction Strategy used by the Los Angeles-based Advancement Project and Project Ceasefire. Both programs feature genuine alliances between law enforcement and community leaders and demonstrate promising violence reduction strategies. The approach to policing embodied in these programs might provide a foundation for communities long marked by violence and poverty to flourish. The workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss that possibility as well as critiques and concerns about these two programs.
Supported by a grant from the Open Society Foundations
Partial travel support provided by California Endowment: Health happens with community-police relations
Steering Committee
Jim Bueermann, President, Police Foundation
Preeti Chauhan, Assistant Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
K. Edward Copeland, Reverend, New Zion Baptist Church/RAVEN
Phillip Atiba Goff, Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles
David Kennedy, Professor and Center Director, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Center for Crime Prevention and Control
Susan Lee, National Director, Advancement Project – Urban Peace
Michael McBride, Pastor and Director of Urban Strategies, Lifelines to Healing/PICO Network
Garry McCarthy, Superintendent, Chicago Police Department
Bernard Melekian, President and Founder, The Paratus Group
Terrence Pitts, Program Officer, Open Society Foundations
Richard Rosenfeld, Founders Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice, University of Missouri St Louis
Karen Terry, Professor, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Jeremy Travis, President, John Jay College of Criminal Justice
Jennifer Trone, Independent Consultant
Tom Tyler, Macklin Fleming Professor of Law and Professor of Psychology, Yale University