This page features the most recent coverage of the National Initiative's work and a searchable archive of media about our projects nationwide.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - February 2019
Pittsburgh police and members of the community met for several hours Tuesday at the Senator John Heinz History Center for an event designed to foster trust and reconciliation between the two groups — with history as a guide.
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NI - September 2018
The Stockton Police Department in California has piloted a community input process for new departmental policy. On August 3, 2017, the department convened its Community Advisory Board to discuss the department’s prospective use of unmanned aerial systems, commonly known as drones.
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Fox - June 2018
A unique idea is about to become reality for Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo. Chief Arradondo came up with the position of “community navigator” and asked the City Council to approve the budget for it. While Chief Arradondo wanted two dozen positions, the council gave him four. The chief hopes a Minneapolis Police Department community navigator can help create a better connection with people in the city. “We are not going to be able really to arrest these problems away, nor do I as chief want to see our department in any way shape or form criminalizing some of these conditions that effect our city,” said Chief Medaria Arradondo.
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AL.com - June 2018
Birmingham has a new police chief. On Monday, Mayor Randall Woodfin named Patrick Smith as the new police chief. Smith is the assistant commanding officer of the Police Sciences and Training Allen Treadaway, a veteran of the Birmingham Police Department, was named assistant chief. Treadaway will handle day-to-day operations of the police department until Smith's first day on June 25.
Bureau for the Los Angeles Police Department.
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The New York Times - May 2018
On Tuesday, Starbucks closed 8,000 stores for several hours of racial bias training, a dramatic move meant to change the way employees understand racism and their jobs. This was in response to a national outcry last month when an employee at a Starbucks in Philadelphia called the police on two black men for simply sitting in the cafe. “Educating ourselves on understanding bias,” a senior Starbucks executive, Rossann Williams, wrote in a note to employees, would allow Starbucks to make sure that its shops were “welcoming and safe for everyone.”
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CBS - May 2018
The Minneapolis Police Department says new data shows a significant drop in their use of force, comparing data from 2008 through 2017. Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo said there was a 48 percent drop in the citywide use of force rate, and argued the numbers are a sign that the department is starting to make some progress when it comes to changing its culture.
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Berkeleyside - May 2018
Black and Hispanic drivers and pedestrians stopped by police in Berkeley are searched “at much higher rates” than white ones, according to a report released this week by the Center for Policing Equity (CPE). Researchers have taken a close look at racial disparities in police contacts by comparing the race of people stopped by police to Berkeley’s racial demographics. The CPE report also looks at racial differences in search, citation and arrest rates of people who are stopped. The analysis found that, despite the higher search rates, black and Hispanic individuals were about half as likely to be arrested afterward: Researchers say this raises questions about whether local police might reconsider aspects of how they do their work, and whether bias may be playing a role.
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Fox - April 2018
The City of Minneapolis is working on building trust between police and communities with a high immigrant population. Many undocumented immigrants live in fear of being deported and are often afraid of interacting with police. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Police Chief Medaria Arradondo met with the community to discuss how they can work together to improve public safety in immigrant communities.
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The Stockton Record - April 2018
In a candid, and at times impassioned, meeting Thursday, some of the county’s top law enforcement leaders and south Stockton community members discussed the fractured relationship between the two groups. The town hall, which was organized by the Stockton Black Leadership Council, was intended to discuss ways to avoid going through what Sacramento is seeing as fallout from the fatal officer-involved shooting of Stephon Clark and putting a stop to the shootings, said Ralph White, who organized the meeting at his home. Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones, Sheriff Steve Moore, Deputy District Attorney Robert Himelblau and Stockton City Manager Kurt Wilson fielded questions and listened to the concerns from people, as well as took suggestions on ways to improve.
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The Nation - March 2018
Michael Tubbs was elected mayor of Stockton, California, in November 2016. When he took office, the City was already in the process of rethinking its approach to policing. Stockton had reached a crisis in 2012, when the number of homicides there increased nearly 100 percent, Stockton’s per capita homicide rate surpassed Chicago’s, and Stockton became the largest municipality to file for bankruptcy. Now “our police department is on the cutting edge of a lot of [reform] work,” Tubbs told me. The city has committed itself to procedural justice, a practice that focuses on ensuring fair treatment of community members by police and legal authorities, and to additional mental-health training for police officers. Since 2017, the Stockton police department has been involved in “reconciliation sessions”—over 80 have taken place—with community groups enabling residents to discuss their experiences with law enforcement and build trust.
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Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle - March 2018
What do the atrocities committed against humanity more than 70 years ago have to do with contemporary policing in the Steel City? A lot, according to organizers of a collaborative day of training between the Holocaust Center of Greater Pittsburgh and the city’s police department. “You got to recognize things happening in the past,” said Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert. “Law enforcement was used to do things against other people.” Bringing light to law enforcement’s role during the Shoah was a central aim of the Feb. 26 training, given that attitudes may be carried over for generations, explained Colleen Bristow, a sergeant of the training academy. As a police officer, “you’re inheriting what those before you did. And you have to understand what those before you did, the egregious things that law enforcement did before and what has been passed down.”
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NI Newsletter - February 2018
2018 marks the fourth and final year of the National Initiative. As the finish line draws near, all of our pilot cities are making important and innovative strides to institutionalize the pillars—Procedural Justice (PJ), Implicit Bias, and Reconciliation—such that they’ll last beyond the project’s formal end date in March 2019. Below, you’ll find a high-level overview of our 2018 NI Advisory Board Meeting, a snapshot of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ collaboration with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, a powerful acknowledgment of institutional harm by Portland’s new police chief, and much more.
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Oregon Public Broadcasting - January 2018
"We cannot effectively address crime reduction and prevention, community engagement and inclusion, or organizational excellence through an equity and inclusion lens if we ignore our history."
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CityLab - January 2018
“For us to make the neighborhood look and feel the way everyone wanted it to, it wasn’t going to be achieved by having a police officer with a helmet and a shotgun standing on a corner,” Thomson said. Now, he wants his officers “to identify more with being in the Peace Corps than being in the Special Forces.” A conversation with Thomson about community policing is likely to involve many such catchy maxims. “Destabilized communities,” he told me, “need guardians, not warriors.” He explained the “Back to the Future Paradox”—use technology wisely, but pair it with regular-old “Bobbies on the street.” And he stressed the idea that public safety is about access to social services, economic rejuvenation, and good schools, not just cops: “Nothing stops a bullet like a job.”
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Steelers.com - December 2017
The Steelers continued their long-standing relationship and support of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police by hosting a Procedural Justice Seminar at Heinz Field on Thursday.
Pittsburgh is one of six pilot sites in the United States for the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice that works to build relationships and increase trust between the police and the communities they bravely serve. The program is employing strategies, examining policies, and developing evidence through research to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote racial reconciliation. Part of the program includes training of current and incoming officers, many of which have already begun or completed steps of the training.
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NI Newsletter - December 2017
Happy holidays from the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice (NI). As we wrap up our third of year implementation, we are excited to announce that we’ve received an 18-month extension from the Department of Justice to continue work across our six sites. The 2017 NI Status Reports, which you can read about below, document all that these cities have achieved in just the last year. This newsletter also features two op-eds exploring the importance of procedural justice (PJ)—as it relates to helping survivors of intimate partner violence and bolstering legitimacy broadly.
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Governing Magazine - November 2017
In this op-ed for Governing Magazine, IPVI Director Rachel Teicher explains why victims of intimate partner and domestic violence don't trust the criminal justice system, and outlines how procedural justice can improve victim perceptions of law enforcement. "This trust could provide the foundation for a new vision of public safety: safer communities that are empowered by positive, ongoing and successful cooperation with law enforcement. Increased confidence in criminal-justice practitioners improves victim participation and offender accountability, and it provides law enforcement with the resources it needs to address and ultimately reduce these violent crimes."
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The Hill - October 2017
In this op-ed for The Hill, two Pittsburgh Bureau of Police officers involved with the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice explain why they feel it's important for police to understand the history of race in America (and how police departments are perceived by marginalized communities). "By addressing concrete aspects of local and national history, procedural justice training places each officer’s identity and perceptions into the context of a broader historical perspective."
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ACLU Blog - September 2017
Unlike most police departments nationwide, the Minneapolis Police Department has taken an important step toward becoming more transparent and accountable to the communities it serves. On August 9, it launched a new online data portal that allows the public to access raw data from certain stops, including suspicious person and traffic stops, that officers make. The data set goes back to November 1, 2016, and, as promised, has been updated every 24 hours since launch. The data is searchable by race, gender, location of the stop, whether a search occurred, and more.
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - September 2017
Pittsburgh's Public Safety department is angling to strengthen ties — and trust — with refugee and immigrant communities through a multicultural program. The new Multicultural Liaison Unit will translate police, fire and medic materials into several foreign languages, hold events for the immigrant community and supply multicultural training for Public Safety recruits, the city said in an announcement Monday.
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Star Tribune - August 2017
Recently confirmed Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo, acknowledging the historical mistreatment of minorities by law enforcement: "When legislative laws came down, whether it's segregating our schools or universities, police were the people on the front lines that were thrust into those very hot-button social issues. This has not changed today."
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NI Newsletter - July 2017
Enhancing procedural justice. Reducing the impact of implicit bias. Fostering reconciliation. Each of the National Initiative (NI) pilot cities understood from the beginning that they were undertaking a challenging process whose full impact might not be felt until years down the road. However, the stories in our latest newsletter show the power of every training, listening session, and conversation with a community stakeholder. Kudos to all of our partners for their hard work and dedication!
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CBS Sacramento - July 2017
The Stockton Police Department's Spanish-Speaking Citizen's Community Academy gives community members the opportunity to meet with patrol officers, gang detectives, and homicide investigators to enhance trust and clear up misconceptions.
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CBS Pittsburgh - July 2017
In Pittsburgh's Zone 5, historically one of the more challenged precincts in the city, officers are making a concerted effort to address the harmful narratives that color interactions between police and community members. So far, this initiative has been successful. As Dante Works, a resident of the Homewood neighborhood in Zone 5, told CBS, "more people are feeling comfortable with the police, communicating with the police—they're getting out of their vehicles talking. No more supervising the community—they're getting to become part of the community."
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- July 2017
In an effort to increase the public's trust in the Stockton Police Department, Chief Eric Jones has in recent months led about 25 listening sessions with a diverse array of community members. Jones has specifically targeted minority communities that have historically had tense relations with the police, including African Americans, Latinos, and Filipino Americans, among others. Jones sees his listening tour as a crucial aspect of the reconciliation process: "It’s way too early to say whether we are making inroads with the community in terms of trust, but I am hearing at least our Police Department is willing to sit at the table — and that goes a very long way."
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YouTube - June 2017
This plenary session (titled "Police, Community, History, and Truth-telling") focuses on the need for law enforcement and the communities they serve to acknowledge the past and settle on a shared narrative in order to move forward and make positive change.
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YouTube - June 2017
This discussion explores the roles that community members—including faith leaders, survivors of crime, returning citizens, and people involved in the criminal justice system—can and should play in the movement for reform.
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YouTube - June 2017
For many, the sight of a police uniform evokes a feeling of safety and protection; for others, it triggers anxiety or mistrust. To change this dynamic, police agencies nationwide are striving to rebuild confidence with the communities that trust law enforcement the least. This panel highlights NNSC’s reconciliation framework that is being used by police and community members as part of the National Initiative for Building Community Trust & Justice, while also demonstrating that an honest acknowledgment of past harms does not undermine the difficult work police officers undertake, as they protect and serve.
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YouTube - June 2017
Police departments across the country are taking steps to transform their organizational cultures and institutionalize new practices in order to build trust, demonstrate transparency, and reduce the harm of traditional policing practices in the communities they serve. These agencies are instituting new training programs, implementing changes in policy and organizational structure, and adjusting operational and tactical approaches to serious crime and violence. This panel highlights the work of five departments - Birmingham (AL), Camden (NJ), Minneapolis (MN), Pittsburgh (PA), and Stockton (CA).
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - June 2017
In late June, during an event hosted by the University of Pittsburgh's Center on Race and Social Problems, members of Pittsburgh's police force and a group of community members learned about the concept of implicit bias and its effect on policing. Chief Scott Schubert spoke about the significance of the training: “At its core, it is intended to build trust and collaboration between community members and police as necessary as a prerequisite for reducing violent crime.”
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WFAA - May 2017
Forth Worth Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald, on his department's efforts to bolster police-community reconciliation: "Right now, we’re doing our very best to make sure that the community understands we’re there for them, and we’re going to be dedicated to making sure the community understands we are a part of the community."
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The Pitt News - May 2017
"Pittsburgh’s newest strategy is a major recognition of what recent research seems to confirm — that violence behaves like infectious disease and is better treated when approached like an epidemic. This methodology can trace its roots to the work of David Kennedy, a criminologist at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice who laid the groundwork for almost every successful program to reduce violent crime today."
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GlobeNewswire - May 2017
The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) and BJA’s VALOR officer safety initiative, presented the Stockton (CA) Police Department with the 2017 National Officer Safety and Wellness Award for Officer Wellness.
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The Stockton Record - May 2017
Tracy Jones, wife of Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones, meets with the family of every new officer at the department to share insights into the challenges that lie ahead.
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The Stanford Daily - April 2017
Stockton (CA) Police Chief Eric Jones spoke to the Stanford Daily about his department's collaborative project with the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice.
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New Haven Independent - April 2017
New Haven Assistant Police Chief Ontoniel Reyes: “I think as a police department we need to educate ourselves on a lot of the history between the community and the police. [It] predates many of us in the police department. It’s been decades in the making, but we are tasked with dealing with and repairing those relationships. It’s not going to happen overnight."
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Star Tribune - April 2017
The Minneapolis Police Department is rethinking its use-of-force policies, while stepping up its efforts to recruit female officers. Officers are now being trained in alternative ways to control violent or uncooperative suspects before resorting to physical means.
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AL.com - April 2017
The community walk was part of Operation Eagle, a 30-day initiative that started earlier this month to improve public safety. Chief A.C. Roper said that by increase police visibility and partnering with community leaders, officers can improve the quality of life in areas most impacted by violent crimes.
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Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - April 2017
Pittsburgh has boosted its police ranks to the point where it can afford to have 18 officers walking daily beats in 18 city neighborhoods, officials said.
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Stockton Record - March 2017
On Friday, March 24, Stockton hosted California's first-ever Strengthening Police and Community Trust summit, which brought together city officials, law enforcement leaders, and community organizers from 20 jurisdictions across the state. Organized by the California Cities Violence Prevention Network (CCVPN), the event provided an opportunity for cities to share solutions they have implemented towards police-community reconciliation and exchange ideas. As Jack Calhoun, president of CCVPN highlighted during the eight-hour forum, Stockton has set an example for cities nationwide with its ongoing commitment to improving relations between the police department and community members.
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NI Newsletter - March 2017
Over this last month, we've continued working with our partners on the ground to tackle some of America's most intractable issues. Building trust between law enforcement officers and those they serve is vital to public safety and the following items are helping us meet the challenge of developing sustainable solutions.
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The Stockton Record - March 2017
During a monthly "Coffee With the Police" event, Chief Eric Jones and his staff made clear to Hispanic residents that the department would not prioritize the enforcement of federal immigration laws.
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The Stockton Record - March 2017
Stockton community member Tashante McCoy-Ham writes about her experience of gun violence and offers her perspective on the police-community reconciliation process.
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The Stockton Record - March 2017
"In 2015, the SPD began a process of listening in a new way. When large numbers of people were ready to talk, we listened by holding a series of large town-hall-style events all over the city. When some voices were drowned out by the larger, sometimes raucous settings, we looked for another way to listen. As City Manager and Police Chief, we conducted a listening tour, for anyone at all, individually or in small groups, in their living rooms or our offices, and anywhere in between, to listen to our community."
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PA Times - February 2017
Birmingham police officer offers her perspective on the National Initiative's procedural justice training.
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The New York Times - January 2017
Louis M. Dekmar, police chief of LaGrange, GA: "I sincerely regret and denounce the role our Police Department played in [the 1940 lynching of Austin Callaway], both through our action and our inaction. And for that, I’m profoundly sorry. It should never have happened.”
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The Florida-Times Union - January 2017
"Florida State College at Jacksonville should be applauded for recently hosting a “Community Conversation” forum that brought together present and former members of JSO’s command structure, FSCJ professors, students and other citizens to discuss the relationship between local law enforcement and Jacksonville’s residents."
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White House Blog - January 2017
Institute for Innovation in Prosecution Executive Director Meg Reiss and Deputy Assistant to President Obama, Roy Austin discuss the importance of prosecutors in criminal justice reform, and how the Obama administration has supported the IIP's mission.
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Pew Charitable Trusts - December 2016
A new report from Pew has highlighted that the United States' "imprisonment rate fell 8.4 percent while the combined violent and property crime rate declined 14.6 percent" with 31 states reducing both simultaneously. This report is further evidence that focused policing can reduce crime without harming communities.
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WESA Pittsburgh - December 2016
The City of Pittsburgh is taking steps to improve diversity in its police department, says Mayor Bill Peduto.
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Cleveland.com - December 2016
This piece features a slideshow documentating some of the places that took significant steps towards a more equitable bail system in 2016.
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New York Times - December 2016
"Implicit bias is grounded in a basic human tendency to divide the social world into groups."
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Stockton Record - December 2016
"By his own account, Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones says law enforcement has had a troubled history with its community. He believes the only way forward is dialogue with the community."
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Vox - December 2016
"So what can America do to stop gun violence? A new, major report from Harvard University researchers Thomas Abt and Christopher Winship reviewed the evidence, putting together the big take from 43 reviews of the research that covered more than 1,400 individual studies, while following up with on-the-ground fieldwork across the US and Latin America."
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NI Newsletter - December 2016
As 2016 draws to a close, we at the National Initiative are reflecting on the tremendous progress we've made in partnership with our six pilot sites, particularly in the developing area of reconciliation. We want to share an update on the important work done so far.
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WESA Pittsburgh - December 2016
"Pittsburgh’s acting Police Chief Scott Schubert assured a group gathered in Larimer Wednesday night that he would follow through with former chief Cameron McLay’s vision for the force in improving community relations."
CREDIT SARAH SCHNEIDER / 90.5 WESA
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Minneapolis Post - November 2016
"Every day, mayors across the country, including here in Minneapolis, are guided by a vision of a city that runs well for everyone. A core part of that work is making sure every resident is safe in every neighborhood. "
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John Jay College - November 2016
"Phillip Atiba Goff, the recently appointed Franklin A. Thomas Professor in Policing Equity, delivered his first lecture in that role on Oct. 20, speaking eloquently and earnestly on 'Justice as a Second Language.'"
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Stockton Record - November 2016
"Amid the current turmoil surrounding police and community relations, both nationally and locally, it is important that the citizens of this community be aware of the efforts and successes that are occurring in this area with our Stockton Police Department."
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New York Times - November 2016
"In the end, the burden placed on urban police is that they have the power to either tear a city apart or help hold it together. With all that Flint has been through, I believe it still stands today because of its Police Department."
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The Missourian - November 2016
"After training all officers in fair and impartial policing, the Columbia Police Department will refresh them on the subject next year."
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - November 2016
An op-ed calling for Pittsburgh to continue the good work of former Chief of Police Cameron McClay.
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New York Times - November 2016
"Only a few dozen out of more than 2,300 elected prosecutors nationwide are African-American, according to two recent studies" and people are organizing to increase the profession's diversity.
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Minneapolis Star Tribune - November 2016
"Friends and colleagues of [a Minneapolis cop] describe him as a tough but fair cop who understood the importance of forming personal relationships with people on the streets — even those he arrested — and winning their respect."
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The Marshall Project - November 2016
"Even as Americans ushered in a presidential candidate who favors hard-line law enforcement tactics on Tuesday, voters still passed criminal justice reform measures by comfortable margins in many states.'
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Complex Magazine - November 2016
"The past few years of race relations in America beg the question: can our racism be unlearned? Experts believe perhaps it can, but that work starts with a better understanding of the nation's history."
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Seattle KUOW - November 2016
"MPR's Cathy Wurzer spoke with Nancy La Vigne, the director of the Justice Policy Center at the Urban Institute in Washington, D.C., about body cameras."
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The Pitt News - November 2016
"During his tenure, short-lived as it was, McLay worked to alleviate racial tensions between the police force and Pittsburgh’s minority communities, made police more visible to the community and pushed for officers to undergo implicit bias and other new types of training."
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Politico Magazine - November 2016
"According to a report by The Sentencing Project, over 6 million Americans, mostly black and brown, mostly men, will not be allowed to vote this year as a result of felon disenfranchisement laws—a higher number than ever before due to growing size of the criminal justice system. But only about 20 percent of this disenfranchised population are actually behind bars—the rest are living in their communities, having completed their prison sentences or on parole or probation."
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The Birmingham Times - November 2016
"Birmingham’s community policing program could be a model for the rest of the nation, where clashes between residents and law enforcement in some areas have led to fatalities."
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Huffington Post - October 2016
"Social scientists have begun joining forces with police to look at how police communication protocols and training can be changed to help increase community trust for the police and reduce the use of force—and help them work together to fight crime."
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Wall Street Journal - October 2016
The Wall Street Journal reports on a new Gallup poll that shows respect for local police in the US is at its highest levels since 1967. The poll, conducted in October 2016, found that 76 percent of Americans said they have “a great deal” of respect for police in their area, up 12 percentage points from last year. The Journal notes that the poll’s findings come on the heels of high-profile fatal attacks on police officers in Dallas, TX and Baton Rouge, LA, as well as protests over police shootings of African-American men across the country.
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Minneapolis Star-Tribune - October 2016
"During a discussion on race and police behavior in north Minneapolis this week, Steven Belton told a personal anecdote that seemed to underscore the maddening complexity of the issue and the conflicted feelings it brings out."
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Washington Post - October 2016
"The president of America’s largest police management organization on Monday issued a formal apology to the nation’s minority population “for the actions of the past and the role that our profession has played in society’s historical mistreatment of communities of color.”"
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- October 2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania--a National Initiative pilot site--recently accounced in that the city is joining the White House-led Police Data Initiative (PDI). The PDI supports efforts of local law enforcement agencies to leverage data to increase transparency and accountability and build trust with the communities they serve. The White House highlighted the PDI as a critical local innovation in the White House Frontiers Conference--a national convening co-hosted with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University to explore the future of innovation.
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New York Times - October 2016
In the New York Times, Phillip Atiba Goff, president of the Center for Policing Equity at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, discusses the importance of recognizing implicit bias.
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WalletHub - October 2016
Megan Quattlebaum--Associate Research Scholar in Law, Lecturer in Law, and Program Director of National Initiative partner Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School--participated in a WalletHub discussion on whether or not police officers should wear body cameras. She notes: "Police officers should be required to wear cameras on their bodies. Body-worn cameras provide members of the public, the media, and researchers with vital information about the quality of police-public interactions — especially the relatively small, but critical, minority that involve officer use of force. These videos will not resolve all debates about the propriety of the officer behaviors they portray, but the information they do reveal can advance empirically grounded policing reform."
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New York Times - October 2016
"Implicit bias is the mind’s way of making uncontrolled and automatic associations between two concepts very quickly. In many forms, implicit bias is a healthy human adaptation — it’s among the mental tools that help you mindlessly navigate your commute each morning. "
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New York Times - September 2016
In the New York Times, Neil Gross explores examines the F.B.I.'s official tally of crime in the United States in 2015 and explores the possiblity of there being a 'Ferguson effect': that crime rose because the police found themselves hamstrung in a political environment in which their every move was scrutinized.
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Washington Post - August 2016
The Washington Post conducted a Q&A with Bryant Marks, a social psychologist at Morehouse College tapped by the Obama administration to provide voluntary implicit bias recognition training. Marks, who is also part of the Obama administration's 21st Century Policing Task Force, has given his training to about 300 police chiefs thus far.
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Minneapolis Star Tribune - August 2016
Minneapolis Police Department, making an effort to establish trust-building measures to improve its relationship with communities, announced changes to its use-of-force policy that will emphasize "sanctity of life" through officer de-escalation, intervention, and more.
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MPR News - August 2016
Chief Janee Harteau of the Minneapolis Police Department reports that body cameras, which have only been in use for a few weeks, are already delivering benefits.
Brandt Williams/ MPR News
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90.5 WESA - August 2016
“If police and community are going to come together, if we’re going to be genuine partners in making each other safe, one of the things we’re going to have to recognize is we have a horrible, undesirable, unjust, shared history,” said Chief Cameron McLay of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, speaking at an event hosted by the Pennsylvania Interfaith Impact Network (PIIN).
Virginia Alvino/ 90.5 WESA
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The New York Times - August 2016
Procedural justice, designed to improve the everyday interactions between the police and the public, is an important part of earning community trust and using legitimacy to bring down crime, writes Tina Rosenberg in the second part of a series in The New York Times.
Gabriella Demczuk/ The New York Times
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The New York Times - July 2016
Stockton Police Department—and the hard work it continues to do on behalf of the National Initiative—is profiled by the The New York Times for its efforts to increase procedural justice, address implicit biases, and promote racial reconciliation, particularly in the wake of the tragic events of the past month. “There was a time where police were used to be dispatched to keep lynchings ‘civil,’” said Police Chief Eric Jones at a recent speaking engagement. “The badge we wear still does carry the burden, and we need to at least understand why those issues are still deep-rooted in a lot of our communities.” 
Max Whittaker/ The New York Times
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90.5 WESA - July 2016
Pittsburgh Police procedural justice trainers, educated in implicit bias and procedural justice interventions, continue to train fellow officers against making assumptions based on characteristics like race, clothing, or the neighborhood where officers are responding to callls.
Megan Harris/ 90.5 WESA
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WVTM - July 2016
Mayor William Bell and Police Chief A.C. Roper discussed the necessity of improving the relationship between officers and the communities they serve in the wake of the tragic events in Dallas. “Our police department was on the wrong side of history for so many years," said Chief Roper. "Now we're trying to do the things to make sure we're one of the leaders across this nation."
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Star Tribune - July 2016
Ferome Brown, a former gang member now working as a community organizer, is conducting outreach to troubled youth in North Side to address rising levels of violence.
Timothy Nwachukwu/ Star Tribune
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Star Tribune - July 2016
Minneapolis City Attorney Susan Segal is expanding efforts to spot and eliminate the “unfair barriers” that can keep people cycling through the criminal justice system, hoping to reduce the impact of first-time or nonviolent offenses.
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KMSP - July 2016
The Minneapolis Police Department released its final body camera policy in a special order from Chief Janee Harteau, defining situations in which nearly 600 Minneapolis officers will be required to activate their body cameras and when they can deactivate them.
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Caravan News - July 2016
The Stockton Police Department has been awarded a $600,000 grant from the California Board of State and Community Corrections, making it one of only 10 law enforcement agencies state-wide to receive grants awarded for the purpose of strengthening law enforcement and community relations.
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Recordnet.com - July 2016
Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones discusses community policing as a philosophy and organizational design, upholding the strategy as a way to build trust through frequent positive interactions. 
Calixtro Romias/ The Record
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California Police Chiefs - July 2016
Stockton Chief of Police Eric Jones published his thoughts on what he calls "principled policing" and how the Stockton Police Department is using that concept to build trust with its community and enhance public safety.
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USA Today - July 2016
Despite recent events, law enforcement agencies across the country continue to implement radical new programs and re-train their officers to improve relationships with minorities in their communities. 
Kristopher Skinner/ AP
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New York Times - July 2016
The vast majority of interactions between police officers and civilians end routinely, with no one injured, no one aggrieved and no one making the headlines. But when force is used, a new study has found, the race of the person being stopped by officers is significant.
William Widmer/ New York Times
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CS Monitor - July 2016
"When incidents like this occur, there's a big chunk of our citizenry that feels as if, because of the color of their skin, they are not being treated the same, and that hurts, and that should trouble all of us," Mr. Obama said after Philando Castile's death. "This is not just a black issue, not just a Hispanic issue. This is an American issue that we all should care about."
Jonathan Ernst/ Reuters
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The Globe and Mail - July 2016
Peniel E. Joseph argues that the extraordinary past week of violence witnessed in the United States is the direct result of 50 years of racist criminal justice public policy and an even longer history of racial oppression in the justice system. 
Peniel Joseph/ Tufts University
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Salon - July 2016
Among the many critiques of the Ferguson effect, the most devastating but least mentioned one is very basic: it has no causal mechanism. Much gun violence is driven by interpersonal and inter-group conflicts, and there is little reason to think that traditional aggressive policing methods, from stop and frisk to small-time quality of life enforcement, does much to prevent it.
Jeff Roberson/ AP
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NBC News - July 2016
For more than 50 years, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts has been known primarily for its combative relationship with police. Now, a rare partnership between cops and residents has begun to dissolve the chronic hostility that fueled a violent 1965 uprising and has plagued Watts ever since. 
David Ketterling / On Assignment
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New York Times - July 2016
Three years have passed since a Federal District Court ruled that New York City’s stop-and-frisk program violated constitutional prohibitions against unreasonable search and seizure and discriminated against minority citizens, who were disproportionately and unjustifiably singled out for stops. 
Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
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