Law Enforcement

A female police officer engaging with a young boy in a wheelchair and a young girl eating lunch at a school.

Law Enforcement

CRS provides services to federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies that help communities resolve conflict. Through facilitated dialogue, mediation, consultation, and training, CRS's services help to build trust and improve partnerships between law enforcement and the communities they serve. These partnerships help to facilitate problem solving and improve communication, which reduces tensions, clarifies misunderstandings, and improves local communities’ capacity to resolve future conflict. Some ways CRS works with law enforcement are:

Improving partnerships and communication between law enforcement and diverse communities through dialogue and problem solving
Supporting efforts to reduce community conflict and tension following controversial incidents, including prosecutorial decisions or verdicts
Helping organizers hold safe public events through contingency planning and event marshal training
Improving community awareness of hate crime laws, prevention, and response
Improving law enforcement awareness of the customs and practices of the diverse communities they serve

Below are some recent examples of CRS's work with law enforcement. Additional case summaries may be found within CRS’s Annual Reports, located on the CRS Resource Center webpage.

Case Highlights

Building Bridges Between Law Enforcement and Transgender Communities | Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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.

Proactive Training to Increase Community Awareness and Strengthen Law Enforcement-Community Partnerships | Greater Houston, Texas

In November 2018, the Deputy Police Chief of the Lone Star College Police Department requested that CRS train campus police officers as part of the department’s efforts to maintain positive law enforcement-community relations.

Lone Star College is a public community college system with nearly 100,000 students in the Houston area, with growing Muslim and Sikh student populations across the college’s campuses. Law enforcement leaders requested that CRS conduct its Engaging and Building Partnerships with Muslim and Sikh Americans training programs for campus police officers as a proactive measure to prevent and respond to hate crimes or bias incidents across the college’s campuses and because they wanted to increase their cultural education of the communities due to the changing demographics.

Throughout late 2018 and early 2019, CRS facilitated regular sessions with a planning group comprised of campus police officers and college officials. In April 2019, CRS conducted the training at the college’s LSC-University Park campus for approximately 70 Lone Star College Police Department officers and other campus law enforcement officers in the greater Houston area. The training increased officers’ awareness and understanding of customs and cultural aspects of the Muslim and Sikh American communities, enabling them to strengthen their relationships with these communities by learning about cultural sensitivities, best practices on how to engage, and better methods of communications.

Training Law Enforcement Recruits | Boston, Massachusetts

Boston, Massachusetts, and the surrounding area faced heightened tensions due to a perceived increase in Islamophobia around the fifth anniversary of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing terror attack. Boston city officials were concerned about public safety during the April 2018 running of the Boston Marathon and deployed more than 8,000 law enforcement officers from Boston and other jurisdictions to patrol the marathon route.

In response to the threats, a local police academy contacted CRS to train its newest recruits. In light of recent threats, law enforcement leaders sought additional education, protocols, and tools that could be useful for officers serving Arab, Muslim, and Sikh communities.

The day after the 2018 Boston Marathon, CRS brought together 44 academy cadets and provided a customized Arab and Muslim cultural awareness training, designed by CRS and police academy officials to meet the unique needs of Massachusetts law enforcement officers.

Following the training, academy leaders decided to incorporate the training program into the standard curriculum.

Prayer Patrol Partnership | Baton Rouge, Louisiana

In 2018, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was still dealing with racial tensions in the aftermath of the July 2016 police shooting death of Alton Sterling, that had been followed by the shooting of six police officers by a lone gunman, resulting in three deaths.

The racial tensions and strained relationship between Baton Rouge law enforcement and the African American community prompted the new police chief to request CRS assistance to help the city improve police-community relations. In February 2018, CRS facilitated a dialogue with the police chief, his command staff, and the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Louisiana to discuss ways to improve the situation and create greater trust between the police and the community. They decided to form a partnership with faith leaders to help address racial tension in the community.

The initiative became known as the “Prayer Patrol” Partnership, which focused on developing healthy and sustainable relationships between law enforcement and the African American community. From February through July 2018, CRS facilitated a series of dialogues with law enforcement, city officials, and clergy members to develop the mission, vision, and structure of the partnership and train volunteers on how to facilitate meetings. CRS also helped participants create a formal action plan for announcing the partnership and how it would function.

The new Prayer Patrol Partnership provides opportunities for community members, supported by faith leaders, to express their concerns to police and city officials and help identify solutions.

Resources for You

Informational Videos

Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships

October 10, 2018

Engaging and Building Partnerships with Muslim and Sikh Americans

October 10, 2018

GodSquad | Keeping the Peace in Sanford, FL

November 29, 2016

Respecting Identity | Law Enforcement Training and the Transgender Community

November 29, 2016

Video Training

On Common Ground – Law Enforcement Training Video on Sikhism

March 6, 2017

Law Enforcement and the Transgender Community – CRS Roll Call Training Video

July 20, 2016

Law Enforcement and the Transgender Community – CRS Training Program

October 19, 2015

Audio

On Common Ground – Episode 1: Developing Successful LGBT Liaison Units

October 19, 2015

Toolkit

Police-Community Relations Toolkit: Policing 101 (PDF)

Police-Community Relations Toolkit: Guide to Critical Issues in Policing (PDF)

Police-Community Relations Toolkit: Police Critical Incident Checklist (PDF)

Contingency Planning Checklist (PDF)

Event Marshals Tipsheet (PDF)

Facilitator Guides

These guides provide community leaders and local planning groups with step-by-step instructions for planning and implementing the Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes Forum, Protecting Places of Worship Forum, and the Dialogue on Race Program.

Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes Forum Facilitator Guide for Community Leaders (PDF)

Protecting Places of Worship Forum Facilitator Guide for Community Leaders (PDF)

Dialogue on Race Program Guide (PDF)