|
Community Relations Service |
|
|
Community Relations Service |
| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 17, 2002 |
Contact: Daryl Borgquist Booker Neal |
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Relations Service (CRS), recognized Mr. Larry Shaw, former Brentwood, California, Chief of Police for regional leadership in civil rights and responding to hate crimes and bias motivated incidents in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, California, at his retirement luncheon.
"The far-reaching protocols between schools and law enforcement are a fitting legacy for the energy and leadership he demonstrated as Chief of Police in Brentwood," said CRS Senior Conciliation Specialist Booker T. Neal.
As Chair of the Contra Costa County Police Chiefs Association, Mr. Shaw was instrumental in bringing school districts and law enforcement agencies together to develop county-wide protocols to respond to hate crimes and bias-motivated incidents that occur on and around school campuses. These protocols serve as useful models for other counties in Northern California to address their own problems.
CRS had initially offered its assistance to Chief Shaw to address community tensions arising from several hate crimes which had occurred on or near school campuses. The collaborative effort between CRS and the Brentwood Police Department sowed the seeds for a comprehensive, unified approach among city and county law enforcement and schools in the Chief's mind.
The Memorandum of Understanding, "On Collaborated Efforts for Combating Hate Crimes and Bias Related Incidents in East Contra Costa County," signed on March 8, 2001, in Brentwood, California, provides for an organized and unified process to be used by schools and law enforcement to jointly respond to hate crimes and bias motivated incidents.
For more information about the Community Relations Service, a unique racial conflict resolution and prevention agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, please visit its web site at www.usdoj.gov/crs.
###