Facilitated Dialogue

In the summer of 2020, CRS facilitated a series of dialogues and provided consultation to city officials and community leaders in Geneva, New York to address racial tensions caused by perceptions of bias-based policing exacerbated by protests and counterprotests organized by local civil rights groups and law enforcement, respectively, and held in solidarity with national demonstrations and counterdemonstrations. CRS facilitated dialogues with city officials, law enforcement, and local community groups; provided contingency planning consultation for protests; and supported efforts to draft an antihate crimes resolution.

City officials initially contacted CRS in the spring of 2020 to request assistance with updating a previously approved memorandum of understanding between the city and local community leaders undertaken to improve police-community relations. Shortly thereafter, local community groups experienced an increase in race-related tensions due to the law enforcement-related death of George Floyd and other Black Americans and the resulting nationwide protests. Throughout June and July, local civil rights leaders held protests several times each week in solidarity with the nationwide demonstrations. City officials, law enforcement officials, and downtown business owners expressed concerns that the destruction that broke out in other cities also could occur locally. The city issued a press release advising residents to stay home, which further inflamed tensions in the Black community.

Throughout the summer of 2020, CRS met with representatives of the city government, the police department, and local civil rights leaders to discuss possible ways to address community conflict and identify solutions to strengthen relations between the city’s Black community and police. CRS facilitated four meetings with police officers to discuss the impact of the national protests and strategies for community engagement to address negative community perceptions of the police. Separate meetings with civil rights leaders gave them an opportunity to discuss possible solutions. As part of the ongoing efforts to quell racial tension, in June 2020, CRS also convened the city, police, and civil rights leaders to discuss best strategies to move the city beyond the tensions that fueled the protests earlier that month.

In early July, the local police union organized a rally in support of law enforcement at the same location as the ongoing civil rights protests. Civil rights leaders also planned a counterprotest to immediately follow the rally. City leaders feared that there would be clashes between the protestors. CRS met with city leaders to provide contingency planning in advance of the protests, which ultimately were peaceful.

Following the protests, CRS facilitated two dialogues, the first with civil rights leaders to identify concerns shared throughout the city’s Black communities, particularly across generational lines, and a second that also included the city manager and representatives from local community organizations. Civil rights leaders presented a series resolution to the city council in July on issues relating to police-community relations, the majority of which the council approved.

City leaders also requested CRS’s assistance with drafting an anti-hate resolution called for by city residents. CRS provided city leaders with sample drafts of anti-hate proclamations and resolutions from several states. The city council passed a resolution in early September 2020 pledging that the city would “foster a transparent environment of respect, dignity, and mutual understanding among diverse groups and individuals via education, dialogues, and community partners.”

CRS remains engaged with the community and is continuing to work with the city and community leaders to address conflicts and improve police-community relations.

CRS facilitated a series of two community dialogues in October 2019 and February 2020, respectively, to help strengthen police-community relations in Houston, Texas. Representatives from the local law enforcement requested CRS services to address Black and Latino community members’ concerns and quell increasing racial tensions stemming from a January 2019 incident in southeast Houston that left five officers injured and the two suspects shot and killed. When officers served a search warrant, the suspects allegedly opened fire as the officers breached the front door of the residence. The incident led to concerns and fears among Black and Latino community leaders and residents in southeast Houston over perceived police excessive use of force and gun violence in the city.

In August 2019, by invitation of city officials and law enforcement leaders, CRS met with Houston city officials, local law enforcement leaders, the Greater Houston League of United Latin American Citizens Council, the Houston Branch of the NAACP, and a local advocacy organization to identify potential CRS services and resources to improve police-community relations. During the meeting, the parties requested that CRS facilitate a community dialogue to address community concerns. They formed a group comprised of law enforcement leaders, diverse community leaders, religious leaders, and advocates to plan the event.

Approximately 40 Houston community leaders participated in the October facilitated dialogue, including city officials, law enforcement, educators, civic leaders, advocates, service providers, students, and faith leaders. In five small groups, the participants addressed guiding questions posed by the trained facilitators to identify problems or barriers impacting law enforcement-community partnerships between the local law enforcement and the Houston community. Primary concerns raised in the small group discussions included fear and mistrust of law enforcement, a lack of law enforcement accountability to resolve issues and recognize pain points within the community, and a need for community education related to police laws and procedures and to increase cultural awareness.

In February 2020, CRS facilitated a second dialogue session where participants developed solutions to address the concerns raised in October. Proposed solutions included decreasing fear through improved interactions with law enforcement in communities and educating the Houston community on police officers’ roles and responsibilities. Before concluding this dialogue, community leaders introduced a newly created 10-member council, whose members committed to participate in follow-up meetings to implement the identified solutions during the dialogue sessions.

In October 2019, Phoenix city officials and local law enforcement requested that CRS facilitate a dialogue to help restore trust and address the longstanding history of tension between police and the Latino community. Throughout FY 2019, CRS worked with Black community leaders to address similar tensions and concerns over racial targeting and the subsequently strained relations between the Black community and law enforcement.

Tensions escalated in the Phoenix, Arizona, community following the release of a video in May 2019 showing police officers arresting a Black family while using what appeared to be excessive use of force. CRS worked to coordinate the city’s first public listening session, ensuring it would be a safe space where both Black and Latino community groups felt comfortable openly voicing their concerns. At the session, Black and Latino communities expressed concerns over the city’s lack of accountability for the police officers’ actions. The participants and facilitators formed a working group, a coalition of community members, to work together on longer-term community engagement strategies and propose solutions to Phoenix city officials.

Throughout October and November 2019, CRS met with city officials to clarify core community concerns raised during the listening session, identify potential community facilitators, and discuss the format and design for an upcoming facilitated dialogue. CRS also convened concerned Latino community members and local Latino organizations to gather their feedback and suggestions on strategies to improve police-community relations. In January 2020, CRS met with a group of law enforcement representatives and Latino community members in Phoenix to share best practices and community engagement strategies for listening to and quelling concerns of the Latino community in a non-violent fashion, as well as to plan facilitator training and community dialogue in inclusive locations around the city. CRS provided facilitator training to volunteers selected by members of the planning group and the working group formed in 2019. In February 2020, in coordination with Phoenix city officials, law enforcement, and Latino community organizations, CRS facilitated dialogue with approximately 50 participants from the monolingual Latino community divided into small groups. A CRS conciliation specialist or CRS-trained volunteer facilitated each of the small group discussions in Spanish. Participants discussed issues, including language barriers, lack of police officer accountability, and the need for police training on diversity and culture. Participants also identified solutions, including improvements to training for police officers and changes to police policy for strengthening police-community relations and addressing concerns about unfair treatment of the Latino community.

In April 2020, a police officer fatally shot a 33-year-old Black man who was carrying a baseball bat around a local superstore in Northern California. The officer later received charges for felony manslaughter. The victim’s family stated that he lived with schizophrenia and bipolar depression and had experienced a mental health crisis the day he died. Black civil rights advocates, community leaders, and a local civil rights group requested CRS consultation and facilitation services to address community members’ concerns over the impact of the shooting, allegations of excessive use of force by law enforcement, and the role of race and mental illness in the incident. The victim’s death sparked community protests alleging the excessive use of force was unjustified and racially biased.

To open lines of communication and facilitate the voicing of concerns surrounding the shooting, CRS facilitated dialogues in April and May with city officials, law enforcement officials, a national civil rights organization, Black community leaders, civil rights advocates, and community organizations. During an April meeting, a police official discussed the release of the official police video that captured the sequence of events leading to the shooting to increase transparency with the community throughout the process. Meeting participants from a local civil rights group agreed to assist in rumor control by educating their members about the incident as captured on the video and clarifying any questions surrounding other videos circulating on social media.

In May 2020, CRS facilitated a virtual dialogue with city officials, law enforcement, Black community leaders, and civil rights advocates. The 40 participants identified issues, such as the need to address the trauma and mental stress on the Black community caused by the shooting, and solutions, including racial sensitivity training for the police, training for interactions with individuals suffering from a mental health crisis, and a moratorium on protests by community advocacy groups until the completion of the police investigation.

In subsequent sessions in August and September, the parties continued identifying concerns, discussed ways to improve police-community relations, and formed four sub-working groups, led by a local civil rights group, focused on: the city, including rebranding efforts and retelling the story of the community; local youth, including advising the city on youth-related topics; police reform policy; and contingency planning for responding to future protests. 

In the aftermath of the facilitated dialogues surrounding the shooting of the victim, coupled with the growing tensions nationwide over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, community members began working toward longer-term changes in the city and the police department. Following the CRS-led facilitated dialogues, the city became the first in its county to implement the pilot program, the “Community Assessment Treatment and Transport Team,” or CATT, as a new county policing model. These teams of mental health crisis professionals and emergency medical technicians dispatch work alongside law enforcement and other first responders, as needed, to help individuals suffering from a mental health crisis as part of a mobile crisis response system. In addition, to continue working toward changing negative perceptions associated with the city, city officials began rebranding and updating the city’s website to highlight its positive aspects, including its history and diversity, and to retell the story of the city.

CRS provided consultation services and facilitated two dialogues with city officials, a local police department, and local faith and community leaders from a city in Northern California, as a continuation of services that began in 2019, following the police-involved shooting of a young Black man. Already strained police-community relations increased after the shooting, resulting in community protests and outrage directed toward the city and law enforcement, with community groups alleging racial profiling and police excessive use of force.

After the city’s public announcement of an initiative to bring the community together and address a range of their concerns, including strained police-community relations and racial tensions, CRS formed a working group composed of faith leaders, community organizations, educators, local business leaders, and the arts community to support the initiative’s efforts. Toward the end of 2019, CRS provided consultation services to city officials, law enforcement, and the working group to develop a series of structured dialogues titled “Community and Police Conversations on Racial Environments (CAPCORE),” designed to provide feedback to the city and police department to inform the revamping of local police procedures and policies. CRS also assessed community concerns, perspectives, and priorities in various parts of the city to facilitate a better understanding of police-community relations throughout the city and to structure the dialogues to include the communities’ input.

In February 2020, CRS facilitated two interactive CAPCORE dialogues with approximately 30 participants, including one dialogue with 15 interfaith community leaders and another with 15 community leaders representing businesses, education, youth, neighborhood organizations, and social service organizations. During the dialogues, participants shared feedback as they discussed questions that the city, police department, and community stakeholders had helped formulate. The questions focused on participants’ perceptions of the city, values they wanted to see displayed through policing, and the most effective methods of police outreach.

The facilitated dialogue with the community leaders brought out concerns surrounding racial tensions and policing perceptions of bias. Participants identified possible solutions, such as the need for including neighborhood associations in policy and planning, training on racial bias and de-escalation for officers, exploring less lethal force options, increasing outreach to non-emergency contacts, and enhancing recruitment efforts to make a diverse force. In the interfaith dialogue, participants provided feedback to the city, police department, and community organizations on their congregations’ perceptions of bias. They also agreed to make officer complaint forms available to their congregations and conduct training with the community on how to complete and file the forms.

Interfaith and community leader participants found the facilitated dialogues helpful for strengthening police-community relations in the city. The police department also used input from the discussions to help revise its policies and practices. The community developed plans to continue holding dialogues in 2021 and collecting and sharing feedback with the police department.