Articles

The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice maintains this website as an information clearinghouse to provide the latest research, tools and guides, best practices, and a wide variety of other resources to communities and law enforcement agencies interested in engaging in processes to reduce implicit bias, enhance procedural justice, and promote reconciliation.

The Evolution of Policing and a Return to Principles

Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones: "It is clearer than ever that to reach significant reductions in violent crime, police trust-building must be a priority. Whether some community members do not report crime or do not work with police due to apathy, fear, or a lack of confidence, it is data-driven policing coupled with trust-building that can begin to change that. Whether some community members do not occupy their public spaces because of perceived or actual crime, smarter policing and trust-building can ease these fears."

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National Initiative Assists Pittsburgh and Minneapolis in Building Police-Community Trust

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of six cities of the National Initiative, has proven particularly successful in its work with the Youth-Police Advisory Committee (PGHYPAC), an organization co-founded by Chief Cameron McLay of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police and students from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. This organization promotes "reconciliation" between students (grades 6-12) and law enforcement representatives, involving participants from the Mayor's Office, District Attorney's Office, and US Attorney's Office. National Initiative Assists Pittsburgh and Minneapolis in Building Police-Community Trust. Minneapolis, Minnesota, another of the National Initiative’s pilot sites, has announced several changes to the Minneapolis Police Department’s (MPD) use-of-force policy to begin repairing the broken relationship between law enforcement and communities of color.

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A Word from the National Initiative on Recent Events

The National Initiative would like to take this moment to offer a word of support to all of our law enforcement and community partners.

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National Initiative Research Roundtable Report

On November 19 and 20, 2015, the National Initiative held a rountable discussions hosted by the Justice Collaboratory at Yale Law School.

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Procedural Justice Training Kickoff in Six Pilot Sites

The Department of Justice’s National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice has announced that on February 1, 2016 it will launch a three-day procedural justice training in its six pilot sites, a component of its plan to strengthen the relationship between the criminal justice system and the communities it serves and protects. The pilot sites sent officers to receive training on an innovative procedural justice curriculum in October of 2015. These officers will now deliver the curriculum to the rank-and-file of their departments in an effort to improve the quality of interaction with the public.

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A judge in Newark takes an innovative approach to fostering procedural justice.

Procedural justice, one of the key pillars of the National Initiative, has been in the spotlight recently thanks to coverage of Judge Victoria Pratt’s court in Newark, New Jersey.

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Procedural Justice: Increasing Trust to Decrease Crime

Improving procedural justice holds great potential to increase trust between authorities and communities and decrease serious crime. Megan Quattlebaum of Yale Law School's Justice Collaboratory writes at OJP Diagnostic Center to explain this pillar of the National Initiative.

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William J. Bratton Remarks at NOBLE Friday, March 13, Atlanta, GA

On March 13, at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement (NOBLE) William R. Bracey CEO Symposium, New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton delivered a powerful message about the state of policing in New York City and across the nation. He addressed historical wrongs the police have done; acknowledged tensions, both past and recent; and presented a vision for the NYPD to “set right” relations with the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods by hearing their input and providing improved public safety.

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Drugs, Race, and Common Ground: Reflections on the High Point Intervention

At the 2008 National Institute of Justice Conference, David Kennedy talked about his work to combat drug markets and promote police-community reconciliation, especially within the High Point Intervention, an innovative program now being replicated in many sites nationally under the Drug Market Intervention.

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Getting Beyond Ferguson

The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice is designed to make real and rapid progress on the strained and often broken relationship between many communities -- especially, alienated communities of color -- and law enforcement.

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Leadership


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