Community Relations Service

DARYL BORGQUIST
202/305-2935
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/CRS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice Community Relations Service will present a major workshop on effective racial tension reduction techniques for protests and demonstrations at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) Annual Meeting on July 21, 2002, in Tampa, Florida. The workshop will be held from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. at the Tampa Convention Center, 333 South Franklin Street, Tampa, Florida. The NOBLE Conference will be held from July 19-25, 2002.

The workshop will cover crowd management, crowd dispersal, major disruptions, and community conflict resolution based on CRS' field experience in hundreds of protests/demonstrations.

The workshop will also be attended by representatives of the Hispanic Police Officers Association, the National Association of Asian American Law Enforcement Commanders, the National Asian Peace Officers Association, the National Black Police Officers Association, the National Latino Police Officers Association, and the National Native American Law Enforcement Association.

Please note that NOBLE workshops and sessions are not open to the press, however, the CRS Director, CRS staff, and most participants will be available to the press.

For more information about the Community Relations Service, a unique racial conflict resolution and prevention agency of the U.S. Department of Justice, or to obtain information on best practices on responding to hate crimes and racial conflict, please see its web site at: www.usdoj.gov/crs.

###