South Region

Following the successful 2019 in-person delivery of the CRS Engaging and Building Relationships with Transgender Communities training program in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, local county law enforcement officials requested in May 2020 that CRS conduct the training again, this time virtually, to continue addressing the long-standing tensions between law enforcement and the transgender community. A county law enforcement official wanted to provide all officers the opportunity to attend the well-received training, including new hires and officers who had been unable to attend the training the prior year.

Participants in a June 2018 City-Site Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (City-SPIRIT) program in Winston-Salem, facilitated by CRS, had recommended the training to improve relationships between law enforcement and local transgender communities. During the City-SPIRIT, which included local city and county officials, a newly elected law enforcement official, the Winston-Salem Police Department (WSPD), and other community groups in Winston-Salem, community members had expressed concerns related to police treatment of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) individuals. CRS met with county law enforcement representatives, the WSPD, local LGBTQ communities, and council working to implement the City-SPIRIT recommendations, to plan the virtual delivery of the CRS training for law enforcement participants.

CRS, along with two subject matter experts (SMEs), a transgender rights advocacy group representative and a police officer, conducted the virtual training in August 2020 for the WSPD and county law enforcement representatives. CRS adapted the program for online delivery from the original, in-person classroom format to accommodate COVID-19 social distancing protocols.

Twenty-four officers attended the two-day training. Participants commended the WSPD and county law enforcement for championing the effort and thanked the SMEs for creating an environment conducive to candid dialogue.

In July 2020, the Western Carolina University Police Department (WCUPD) Chief of Police contacted CRS for assistance with strengthening police-community relations between the WCUPD and the Western Carolina University (WCU) community, including faculty, students, and staff in Cullowhee, North Carolina. In the wake of national protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, the chief of police wanted to position the WCUPD as a resource to the community it serves and establish a partnership with the WCU community, including all minority groups on campus, to increase campus trust in the police.

CRS proposed that WCUPD create a police community advisory committee to open formal lines of communication and increase transparency between the WCUPD and the diverse campus groups. CRS shared a template to use as a framework based on committees established by other police departments. These committees create shared responsibility for police accountability through interactions between the police and committee members who represent diverse parts of the community. CRS also discussed possible committee composition, as well as member qualifications, selection, and training.

With his staff, the chief of police discussed ways to customize the proposed framework for the Police Community Advisory Committee (PCAC) to meet the specific needs of the WCU community. The WCUPD determined that the committee would include WCU faculty members, staff, and students to provide a broad range of input and recommendations on WCUPD policies and procedures.

In September 2020, CRS convened a meeting with the chief of police, a member of his staff, and a WCU representative. The parties agreed to formally establish the PCAC and reviewed next steps for its formation, including the member application and selection process. To initiate the application process, the city council and police department provided forms and other helpful resources for interested faculty, staff, and students. In working with the city, the chief of police selected nine committee members to represent the WCU campus community.

CRS assisted with the PCAC’s planned initial meeting in March 2021, including introducing the committee members to their new roles and outlining the rules of order and protocols. The PCAC helped the WCUPD and WCU community collaboratively build trust through ongoing community engagement, increasing their capacity to prevent and respond to future conflicts on campus.

When the newly elected sheriff in Forsyth County, North Carolina took office in December 2018, he assessed high levels of tension between law enforcement and the county’s transgender communities. The sheriff looked for ways that he and his deputies could reduce existing tensions and increase the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) community’s confidence in the county’s law enforcement officers. The sheriff had participated in the Winston-Salem City-Site Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (City-SPIRIT) that CRS had conducted in June 2018, and based on that experience, requested CRS assistance.

In March 2019, CRS trained a subject matter expert from the transgender community and two police officers from the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, area to facilitate an Engaging and Building Relationships with Transgender Communities training for area law enforcement officers and create a bridge between law enforcement officers and LGBTQ communities. Local law enforcement leadership hoped the training would address the perception that law enforcement officers were unwilling to adjust their behavior and language to be more respectful of LGBTQ communities and their members. CRS facilitated the program, which included participants from the Winston-Salem Police Department and Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.

The training provided an overview of issues affecting transgender communities as well as best practices, policies, and strategies for improving relationships between transgender and law enforcement communities. Additionally, the training offered scenarios of the most common interactions between members of transgender communities and law enforcement to highlight mutually respectful, professional communications. As a result of the training program, the Sheriff’s Office developed and issued a related internal policy statement.

In October 2018, at a local state university, African American student organizations and student civil rights organizations alleged that the university failed to properly respond to perceived bias-based issues on campus, including white supremacist activity and racist incidents in classrooms. The groups also alleged disparate application of campus policies by university officials toward majority African American student organizations. The student organizations requested CRS’s assistance to address the allegations and identify possible remedies.

CRS provided consultation services to a student planning group that organized a student forum on bias and race at the university. During the planning process, CRS helped the students, and professors acting as the student’s advisors, prioritize their concerns and narrow the list of potential forum topics. Participants identified several priorities, including hiring a full-time Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; creating space for a Cultural Diversity Office; and requiring cultural sensitivity and diversity training for faculty and employees.

In November 2018, CRS facilitated a student forum. During the forum, students gave candid accounts of specific experiences of perceived race-motivated bias on campus, inequities in the application of campus policies toward black student organizations compared to white student organizations, and alleged police harassment. Black students also discussed the need for a university Office of Diversity and Equity to address complaints and concerns. During the forums, students prioritized issues and decided to form a committee which would present solutions to the university administration.

In September 2018, four white male teenage vandals broke into a predominantly African American church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. They wrote racist hate messages on the building and defaced Bibles inside the church. Police arrested all four of the teenagers in connection with the incident.

The incident resulted in heightened community interest in preventing hate crimes in two local counties. The following month, the pastor of the church requested CRS provide technical assistance and support in planning a Protecting Places of Worship (PPOW) forum. CRS developed a planning group for the forum and convened members that formed the “Community Action Committee of Murfreesboro” (CAC). The CAC members included representatives from state, county, and local university law enforcement, interfaith leaders, and youth leadership organizations.

CRS provided ongoing consultation to the planning group from October 2018 to March 2019, when the forum was conducted on a local university campus. Nearly 150 people attended the March 2019 PPOW forum that included speakers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Tennessee (USAO-MDTN); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF); Tennessee Attorney General’s Office; a local prosecutor’s office; and local and campus law enforcement officials. The CAC received commitments from forum participants and area faith leaders to participate as presenters or panelists at future forums. After receiving CRS support, the CAC can now independently plan and facilitate PPOW forums to help faith communities learn about securing their places of worship and strengthen relationships with law enforcement agencies.

Local LGBTQ community organizers and allies who were looking to establish a chapter of a national LGBTQ support organization in Sparta, North Carolina, received threats and community resistance to establishing a chapter and placing a float in an Independence Day parade. Due to the threats, the organizers requested additional city resources. There was disagreement on what additional security resources were needed. In July 2019, LGBTQ community organizers contacted CRS with concerns that the city only served its straight, white Christian residents. They requested CRS facilitate a dialogue between the parties and communicate their concerns to local law enforcement and local government officials.

CRS traveled to Sparta, North Carolina, in July 2019 to assess and monitor threat and intimidation activity, including social media posts that appeared to threaten gun violence, and to consult with law enforcement officials in their efforts to provide security and assurance to parade participants. Prior to the parade, CRS met with the county and town law enforcement officials to discuss the alleged threats, intimidation, and harassment reported by Sparta’s LGBTQ community organizers. The law enforcement leaders acted on CRS’s suggestion to increase patrols of the float-building site and security during the parade.

Before and after the parade, CRS facilitated communications between federal, county, and town law enforcement officials, local elected officials, and regional and local representatives from a national LGBTQ organization. During the parade, CRS monitored the security measures in place and the interactions between the LGBTQ community organizers, their supporters, and the crowd. The parade proceeded with minimal protest activity and concluded peacefully.

In September 2019, CRS provided mediation services between local elected officials, law enforcement officials, local LGBTQ organizers and local domestic abuse resource center representatives. As a neutral mediator, CRS worked with the groups to discuss issues and concerns regarding establishing a LGBTQ support organization in Sparta and the necessary steps to ensure the chapter could safely form and operate.

During the mediation, CRS first worked with the parties together, then separately, and reconvened the parties for the final agreement.

In the mediation agreement, parties agreed to designate and train a victim witness liaison, establish a school board liaison, publicize meeting opportunities, and invite and sponsor external anti-bullying resources.

In a case of national significance beginning in 2016 and continuing into 2017, CRS addressed racial tension in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, after the July 2016 police shooting death of an African American man, Alton Sterling. This incident was followed by the shooting death of five police officers by a lone gunman. The events triggered widespread civil unrest resulting in threats to public safety and law enforcement. CRS’s services were requested by the Deputy Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and the FBI to respond to the critical high-tension events. Later, city officials sought additional CRS services in response to longstanding tensions and mistrust between the local community and law enforcement.

In November 2016, CRS facilitated community dialogues between community leaders, government officials, and law enforcement representatives. The conversations addressed issues surrounding the relationship between law enforcement and the African American community, including youth, with the goal of developing a mutual understanding of the underlying issues and causes of the tensions. CRS also worked with the participating stakeholders to develop viable and self-sustaining measures to increase mutual trust and respect between the police and the community.

In April 2017, CRS met with the new Mayor-President and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana to discuss the action items identified during the community conversations. To help facilitate concrete next steps, CRS provided recommendations for creating community partnerships to allow law enforcement, government, and community leaders to work collaboratively to improve community-police relations and public safety.

Tybee Island, Georgia, is a small, beachfront community near Savannah where special events occur every summer, temporarily increasing the island's population from about 3,000 people to more than 20,000. In 2018, local law enforcement requested CRS’s services following allegations of racial discrimination during events on the island.

Orange Crush is an unsponsored event that began in the late 1980s as a way for local students from a nearby college to celebrate the end of the school year. Over the following decades, the event has grown, drawing young adults from other historically black colleges and universities. It is the only majority African American event on Tybee Island.

In 2017, the city passed an ordinance to restrict loud music and limit the public consumption of alcohol solely during the weekends that Orange Crush was scheduled to occur. The city reinstated the ban for the 2018 event. Despite assertions from city leaders that the ordinance reflected unique challenges posed by Orange Crush, community groups alleged that the ban was racially motivated and targeted the African American community, as larger events brought more alcohol, noise, and crime to the island than Orange Crush.

With the support of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, CRS began working with the Tybee Island community. The day before crowds arrived for Orange Crush, CRS worked with law enforcement and a local community organization to serve as onsite conciliators between law enforcement, the city, and event participants to help prevent conflict.

CRS monitored the event throughout the weekend. The calm and neutral presence of the conciliators helped successfully diffuse multiple flashpoints and prevent physical violence and arrests.

After monitoring the Orange Crush event in 2018, CRS returned to Tybee Island over the summer and fall to mediate lingering disagreements between the city and the island’s residents over whether permits should be required for events like Orange Crush. Through a series of sessions, the parties agreed to a formal regulation process for large events, which was approved by the city.

In March 2018, a group of African American students at Terry High School in Mississippi planned a school walkout to protest perceived racial discrimination after the principal canceled the student-planned Black History Month celebration. School leaders dissuaded the students from walking out and facing disciplinary action, but a smaller protest occurred, and racial tensions in the school continued.

To address these tensions, the Superintendent of Hinds County School District contacted CRS to facilitate an educational forum for the students. With the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi and the FBI, CRS facilitated the forum for two student assemblies. The forum achieved its multiple purposes. Students voiced their concerns, while school leaders expressed their belief in diversity and support for the students’ right to free expression in a manner that would not disrupt regular school activities and instructional time.

At the conclusion of the forum, the Superintendent expressed interest in CRS returning the next academic year to continue to support a dialogue between school leaders, faculty, and students to foster greater inclusion at the school.