Community Relations Service News (FY 2021, Q4)

CRS welcomes a series of new team members who have joined the agency this year. New Regional Director (RD) Vincent Plair brings decades of experience from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to his new role. Based in Los Angeles, he serves as the regional director for the Rocky Mountain, Western, and Northwestern regions overseeing Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. You can learn more about RD Plair here.

CRS also welcomes two new conciliation specialists, Denise Nazaire and Michael David. Conciliation Specialist (CS) Nazaire previously worked as a management analyst for the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department, where she collaborated with city and community stakeholders and helped coordinate community engagement sessions. She will be working out of the Kansas City, Missouri, regional office. CS David has 20 years of experience in policing and most recently taught at the University of Rhode Island. He will be working in the New England regional office.

New Presidential Management Fellow Alexine Carr started in June as a program analyst with CRS. She recently completed a Master of Public Policy at Pepperdine School of Public Policy, where she also served as the managing editor of the Pepperdine Policy Review.

Three interns have joined the CRS team for the summer: Maia Halle, a rising sophomore at Bryn Mawr College; Malik Johnson, a rising senior at Columbia University; and Lindsey Kirchhoff, a third-year law student at Pepperdine University. They will be working for the Chicago regional office, New York regional office, and Washington, D.C., headquarters, respectively.

New Spanish-Language Website

CRS is pleased to share a new Spanish version of our website. The translated version provides information about CRS's work and services. You can find the full Spanish-language website at justice.gov/crs-espanol.

Addressing Hate Crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander Individuals

CRS has collaborated with partner agencies to respond to the rise in bias incidents and hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander individuals occurring across the country. A new page on the Hate Crimes website provides resources, up-to-date news on addressing hate crimes, and links to information on reporting hate crimes in seven languages.

CRS has also been working closely with communities to de-escalate tensions and help build the capacity to address and prevent hate crimes. Learn more about the agency’s work in the latest Highlights post.

Resources for Campuses

CRS completed in February the first-ever virtual Dialogue on Race (DOR) for students and faculty at Broward College in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The DOR was a collaboration of CRS, faculty, and students of the Social Behavioral Sciences Professional Enhancement Program. Throughout January and February, CRS conciliators facilitated a series of virtual dialogue sessions for participating students consisting of an orientation session followed by four weekly dialogue sessions. After these dialogues, CRS hosted a training of facilitators for students and faculty, providing them the skills and tools necessary to facilitate DOR sessions following the CRS model. The Broward College Professional Enhancement Program plans to continue the facilitation of DOR throughout the current year. More information on the Dialogue on Race program is available on the CRS website.

For schools interested in the Campus-SPIRIT program, a facilitated dialogue program where students and school officials identify and implement solutions to address tension and conflict on campus, we now have a brochure that explains the program’s goals to help campus leaders decide if the program is right for their community.

As students return to campus this fall amid a rise in bias incidents and hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and a year of heightened racial tensions, hate crimes are likely a concern for administrators, students, and campus law enforcement. In September, CRS and partner agencies from the DOJ will be hosting two webinars for campus administrators and law enforcement on resources and services to help prevent and respond to hate crimes. Please forward this information to anyone you think may be interested. 

• September 1, 3 pm EDT: DOJ Hate Crimes Prevention and Response Resources for Campuses Webinar (for campus law enforcement) 
• September 17, 3 pm EDT: DOJ Hate Crimes Prevention and Response Resources for Campuses Webinar (for administrators and related organizations) 

Thank you for your support of CRS. We look forward to continuing to work with you.

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