Midwest Region

In March 2019, CRS met with local leaders after receiving a request from Zionsville Community Schools for assistance responding to concerns resulting from bias incidents based on religion and race. At the time, Zionsville Community High School (ZCHS) officials were investigating a photograph posted on social media in February 2019, which showed several students using a Nazi salute. After becoming aware of the post, the Zionsville Community Schools superintendent condemned the photo in an email to parents, staff, and faculty.

Several bias incidents had occurred at Indianapolis area schools during the last several years, including alleged incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti and social media posts that included racial slurs at local schools, heightening tensions in Zionsville. In 2016, high school students were photographed holding a German flag and using the Nazi salute. In 2018, a high school student allegedly yelled profanities and racial slurs while wearing a Nazi flag, and there was a separate incident related to a viral social media post depicting a white student wearing blackface to bully a Black student.

Following these incidents, CRS met with Zionsville city officials, law enforcement, and ZCHS leadership. After discussing CRS’s services that could help ease racial tensions at ZCHS, the leaders decided to hold a CRS School-Student Problem Identification of Resolutions of Issues Together (School-SPIRIT) program. CRS met with a newly formed SPIRIT planning group in September 2019, composed of the Zionsville Community Schools superintendent, ZCHS principal, and other school administrators, to develop a successful SPIRIT process for the school.

In November 2019, CRS conducted a two-day School-SPIRIT program with eight ZCHS administrators and staff trained by CRS to help facilitate the program and approximately 40 student leaders from grades nine through 12. The program aimed to help address racial and religious tensions; serve as a resource for the district’s “Strong in Every Way” ongoing initiative, which focuses on developing connections and cultural understandings; and support the district’s academic priority of student voice and empowerment. During the program, students identified the key issues of a lack of racial sensitivity and cultural awareness displayed through the use of racial slurs and stereotypes. Students voted on potential solutions, including a campaign to teach students about diversity, an after-school social group to discuss diversity issues, a curriculum that focuses on raising cultural awareness, schoolwide student-led information sharing, and safe spaces for students to share personal experiences.

After the process, ZCHS leadership invited student program participants to apply to serve on a SPIRIT advisory team. The team of 18 student advisors meets monthly with two ZCHS assistant principals to implement the solutions identified during the SPIRIT program.

Local officials in Naperville, Illinois, requested CRS assistance in November 2019 to address growing tensions following allegations of racial discrimination that involved staff at a restaurant repeatedly asking a party of mostly Black parents and children to move to different seats because a frequent white customer did not want to sit next to them. The incident went viral, and the restaurant chain faced a national public backlash. After an internal investigation, the restaurant terminated the employees involved and banned the customer who made the complaint from all its restaurants. The restaurant leadership also issued a statement pledging to conduct enhanced sensitivity training at the restaurants and working with city officials and community leaders to provide input and counsel in response to the incident. In another incident earlier that month, local prosecutors charged a white Naperville high school student with two counts of committing a hate crime and one count of disorderly conduct after publishing an advertisement online depicting a Black student as a “slave for sale.” As a result of the escalating community tension, CRS provided consultation services throughout 2020 to support the city’s development of a human rights commission and the enactment of a nondiscrimination resolution.

In December 2019, CRS met with the Naperville mayor, city manager, and other city staff to discuss community concerns. The city had planned to convert its Housing Advisory Commission into a Human Rights Commission. CRS shared guidance and best practices with the city manager about establishing human rights commissions and connected Naperville officials with officials from other existing commissions in Illinois and Indiana. The city council, based on consultation with CRS, revised Naperville’s new equity-centered mission statement to include language focused on the city’s commitment to inclusivity and diversity and drafted ordinances in support of the new commission.

The Naperville City Council unanimously passed in May 2020 a nondiscrimination resolution emphasizing the importance of diversity and inclusion. Community members had demanded the resolution, citing the two anti-Black incidents the prior November, as well as more recent incidents of anti-Asian bias related to the COVID-19 pandemic and derogatory language used against Asians at a council meeting. In July 2020, the council approved an ordinance to establish a human rights commission through expanding the Housing Advisory Commission, adding to its role the tasks of community outreach and education related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. CRS will continue to provide consultation and support to the commission, as needed.

A local community organization in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, requested CRS services to help address community tensions in the aftermath of an alleged hate crime. Community tensions stemmed from an incident in November 2019 involving a white male suspect who reportedly threw battery acid in the face of a Latino male allegedly due to his race and national origin. CRS met with representatives from the local community organization and a coalition of community organizations to develop strategies to work through differences and defuse conflict in the community.

In December 2019, CRS facilitated a CRS Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes forum for over 100 attendees. The forum provided participants the opportunity to engage in a community dialogue surrounding the incident to de-escalate tensions. Forum panelists, which included the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, local elected officials, community leaders from two local organizations, and the victim of a recent hate crime, provided participants with information about hate crimes and hate crime investigation and prosecution processes.

Participants asked the forum panelists questions to gain more insight into and understanding of hate crimes and participated in breakout groups to develop actionable steps to address issues relating to the alleged hate crime and how to prevent future, similar incidents from occurring in their community.

In December 2018, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrested a man for planning an attack on a synagogue in Toledo, Ohio, allegedly inspired by the October 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Jewish community leaders in Toledo requested CRS services following CRS outreach to local faith leaders.

CRS formed a working group with local Jewish community organizations to address the community’s concerns following these incidents.

The communities requested that CRS facilitate a Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes forum in Toledo in June 2019. Prior to the forum, CRS provided community leaders with best practices to address ongoing concerns and how to move forward and plan the forum.

Approximately 200 people attended the Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes forum. The forum provided a structured environment where participants expressed concerns about hate crimes and tensions in the community. It promoted an exchange of ideas and increased communication among participants. The successful forum increased knowledge of CRS’s services and how to report bias incidents and hate crimes. The forum also highlighted resources available to the community that provide assistance and support.

Following the Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes forum, CRS assisted the working group in developing a community action plan that included a strategy to reach their goal of ongoing outreach and community capacity building.

National and local African American civil rights organization representatives requested CRS services in March 2019, after Dayton, Ohio, city officials approved an event permit for a Ku Klux Klan affiliated group to hold a public event in May. The permit stated that the group would be engaged in “education and public speaking” at the Courthouse Square. The same day city officials approved the permit, county and city officials released separate statements condemning the content of the Ku Klux Klan affiliated group’s message, while supporting free speech and affirming their commitment to diversity and inclusion. Both statements stressed a commitment to public safety during the planned event.

CRS services were requested to address the community’s concerns about the group holding the event in Dayton, the potential security concerns surrounding the event, and the planned counter event.

In a March 2019 press conference, local civil rights leaders announced a counter event, a family-friendly, block party celebration with speakers and music. The event, “A Celebration of Love, Unity, and Diversity,” was intended to promote peace and improve public safety.

In April 2019, CRS facilitated a community dialogue and provided contingency planning services in advance of the May events. CRS also conducted its training, Contingency Planning: Reducing Risk at Public Events, at a community forum with over 100 participants. The forum was moderated by a community coalition that has a broad-based and diverse community membership. The training increased participants’ knowledge of how to plan for a safe public event and decrease the potential for violence. The program included planning time for participants to begin preparing for the events and to address potential issues for maintaining public safety during the events. Just prior to the events, CRS conducted Event Marshal training at the request of community members who participated in the April training. CRS monitored both events. The events remained peaceful and there were no arrests or incidents of violence.

In November 2018, CRS services were requested by community members to help mend tensions and strategize for joint solutions following reports that a police officer in southern Michigan was seen on body camera video striking a 13-year-old bi-racial boy with intellectual disabilities who was handcuffed in the back of a patrol car. After an investigation of the incident, the police officer involved was suspended and subsequently fired in February 2019. Media reports of the footage and details of the incident in early May 2019 created widespread police-community tensions.

Following the release of the footage, the family of the victim filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit for alleged civil rights violations. Police-community tensions were again heightened as the local southern Michigan community subsequently organized a rally protesting police brutality.

In June 2019, CRS facilitated a discussion with concerned local community leaders including law enforcement officials and city officials. CRS provided best practices and resources, including identifying an expert in use of force policy. The community members agreed that the incident had been properly handled, citing the officer’s removal from the department.

Local city and law enforcement officials requested CRS services after the May 2018 arrest of a 29-year-old African American man with schizophrenia was captured on video and posted to social media. The man’s parents alleged that the video showed excessive use of force by law enforcement due to their son’s disabilities. Marion community members also expressed outrage over the incident. Local officials requested CRS’s services to facilitate dialogues on forming a new Police Advisory Commission, to provide mediation assistance, and to help the city reconstitute its Human Relations Commission.

In November 2018, CRS provided consulting assistance to the city and law enforcement officials on ways to improve police-community relations in the city following the alleged excessive use of force incident. In April 2019, CRS provided mediation services to law enforcement officials, law enforcement affinity organization officials, and a broad-based community organization made up of diverse civic leaders. CRS acted as a neutral third-party mediator throughout the process to facilitate problem-solving discussions and the development of documented agreements. In addition, CRS provided consulting assistance and best practices on reconstituting a Human Relations Commission by ordinance and information on communities facing similar issues for comparison.

In 2016, CRS conciliation services were requested in Pontiac, Michigan, after a man with cerebral palsy was brutally beaten by two men who also used the victim’s cell phone to record and post the assault on social media. CRS worked with local government, law enforcement, and disability advocates to identify key issues through facilitated dialogue. CRS then provided consultation services by sharing best practices and models to prevent and respond to hate crimes against individuals with disabilities. CRS also provided mediation services to the parties, resulting in the creation and signing of an Americans with Disabilities Act resolution, “Against the Abuse and Exploitation of Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.” A second resolution declared the month of May as “Mental Health Month” in Oakland County, Michigan, which was a recommendation by the county’s mental health board and approved by the City Council.

An African American family in Delano, Minnesota, was driven out of their home after finding it vandalized, inside and out, with racist graffiti in March 2017.

The incident shook the small community of Delano, which did not have the resources to fully respond to the incident. Following the break-in, Delano residents knew that the small, predominately white community had to come together to stand against hate.

To respond to the incident, CRS worked with city officials to pass an ordinance in October 2017 creating the Spirit of Community Commission to advise the city council on the fair and equal treatment of all persons. The Commission created a long-term action plan to prevent further hate incidents in the city. In January 2018, city and law enforcement officials and business and community leaders in the city signed the action plan.

With CRS’s assistance, the Commission proceeded to create the Bias/Hate Crime Response Plan, which the city adopted in June 2018. The plan provides a formal blueprint for the city, law enforcement, and community to respond to hate crimes when they occur.

Following a series of racially-charged incidents targeting African American students at various schools during the 2017-2018 academic year, school district leaders requested CRS’s assistance to address the district's overall diversity, equity, and inclusion issues.

The incidents at the schools occurred inside and outside of academic settings, involved both teachers and students, and included racially-charged social media posts that spread rapidly. At the school district's request, CRS spoke with school officials to get more details on the incidents and how the district currently handles racial conflicts.

CRS's initial assessment determined the need for mediation, beginning with African American parents and school administrators. In April 2018, CRS held the first of two mediation sessions with four school administrators and six African American parents of students in the district. Participants identified specific issues around trust, accountability, transparency, and communication that impact diversity and inclusion in the district. At a second mediation session later that month, participants continued to discuss those issues and strategies to restructure the district's diversity council.

The mediation resulted in a memorandum of understanding that documented the outcomes of the discussions between parents and school district representatives, including next steps. In June 2018, a participating parent carried out one of their first agreements, which was to host a community conversation with the incoming school superintendent to hear the parents’ concerns regarding diversity and inclusion.

In March 2018, representatives from the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago (CIOGC) contacted CRS for assistance following a series of alleged hate incidents directed at the Muslim community.

Due to threats faced by mosques in the area, CIOGC asked CRS to facilitate its Protecting Places of Worship forum for the Chicago Muslim community. In April 2018, CRS worked with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois, the FBI, and local emergency management and law enforcement officials to facilitate the forum and provide active shooter training. The forum included CIOGC leaders and representatives of more than 50 Muslim organizations and schools in the greater Chicago area.

The forum provided faith leaders with information on hate crimes laws and statistics, best practices and resources for securing places of worship, and opportunities to network and share information with local and federal law enforcement representatives.

In the fall of 2016, two transgender community advocacy and service provider organizations requested CRS assistance to address allegations of disparate treatment of LGBTQ community members by local law enforcement in greater Detroit, Michigan. The request was an extension of meetings and facilitated dialogues earlier in 2016 concerning claims of disparate treatment of an African American transgender woman by police based on her gender identity. Both organizations, as well as local law enforcement, had experienced recent changes in leadership, and the LGBTQ organizations asked CRS to help build capacity between the groups to address bias concerns.

In October 2016, CRS led and facilitated a coordinated Law Enforcement and Transgender Community Training Session with southeastern Michigan law enforcement, LGBTQ advocacy, and service provider community leaders; federal partners; and transgender community members in Detroit. CRS provided consultation, facilitated dialogue, and training to the parties.

In July 2020, CRS conducted its first virtual stakeholder training after the COVID-19 pandemic made in-person training not practical. A local law enforcement training agency sponsored the virtual training to address the Burlington, Iowa Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) communities’ ongoing concerns about safety and the need for law enforcement to better understand issues facing the transgender community.

The LGBTQ communities’ concerns stemmed from the March 2016 murder of a gender-fluid Black teenager in Burlington and perceptions about law enforcement’s handling of the case. Prosecutors had charged the perpetrators with murder, foregoing hate crime charges because murder carried the state’s highest possible penalty (a maximum sentence of life in prison). Local transgender community members perceived the decision as a major injustice, caused by the invisibility of transgender individuals in the state, and reached out to the Attorney General, state officials, and local law enforcement calling for hate crime charges to be filed.

As a result of these calls, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Iowa (USAOSDIA) requested support from U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division (CRT) officials, who met with local transgender advocates to discuss their concerns. The experience helped the small and dispersed Iowa communities learn how to make transgender individuals more visible to law enforcement.

During the sentencing process, CRS reached out to local transgender advocates and a statewide LGBTQ advocacy group, to provide information on CRS’s services. As a result, the USAO-SDIA, U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa, and transgender community advocates requested CRS support to educate law enforcement officials throughout the state on civil rights issues impacting transgender Americans and build their capacity to engage with and build relationships with transgender individuals.

In July 2020, CRS virtually facilitated the Engaging and Building Partnerships with Transgender Communities for 25 officers from police departments and sheriffs’ offices across Iowa. CRS adjusted the in-person program for virtual delivery, adapting content to best encourage open discussions and learning online. Law enforcement and LGBTQ subject matter experts presented information on misconceptions that affect the prevention and response to hate crimes against transgender communities and best practices for respectfully communicating with transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals. Participants also discussed strategies for outreach to transgender communities to increase trust and collaboration with their police departments.

In February 2020, CRS conducted a Campus-Site Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (Campus-SPIRIT) program at Kansas State University (K-State) in response to community tensions caused by Black students’ concerns of marginalization on campus and in the community based on race. CRS had already been working with the university to help address prior community concerns stemming back several years.

In 2017, a resident reported finding racist slurs painted on a car near K-State, which caused fear among students and other community members. In response, the university conducted a series of diversity events and hired a chief diversity and inclusion officer, who led university efforts to create KSUnite, a conference on diversity, equity, and inclusion. This annual event strives to create more diverse and inclusive educational opportunities and respond to the race-based issues and tensions at the university.

Through discussions with students, K-State officials determined that the slurs were just one element of an undercurrent of Black student concerns that needed to be addressed. Although local law enforcement had determined that the 2017 incident and another in 2018 involving a racist note posted on an apartment door were hoaxes, school officials felt it was important to respond to the fears and tensions expressed by the university’s Black community. To do so, K-State’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion requested that CRS conduct a Campus-SPIRIT program. In May 2019, CRS, in coordination with the K-State Department of Diversity and Multicultural Student Affairs and the student-led Intercultural Leadership Council, formed a group composed of school administrators, faculty, students, and other key campus leaders to plan the program. CRS provided facilitator training to six student members of the Intercultural Leadership Council who volunteered to help conduct the program.

The SPIRIT program created the opportunity for students to share their concerns about racial tensions on campus and begin the process of identifying solutions. During the session, the K-State vice president for student life/dean of students and the associate vice president for student life delivered opening remarks summarizing their hopes for the Campus-SPIRIT program and the impact that it would have to enable K-State to achieve its diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. The SPIRIT participants— approximately 36 administrators, faculty, staff, and students from various organizations—identified the recruitment and retention of students, staff, and faculty; accessibility; and improvement to KSUnite as priority issues. Volunteers created a SPIRIT council, which developed an action plan to implement some of the proposed solutions, including inviting speakers to campus to address diversity and inclusion topics. In addition, informed by the SPIRIT report, the university developed an nine-point plan to lead to a more inclusive campus environment. The 2020 KSUnite Conference, held in October, included several speakers who addressed diversity and inclusion issues. The university has begun work on several other items, including creating a student ombudsman office and a “Truth, Racial Healing, and Transformation” framework, and plans to continue implementing its action plan as soon as COVID-19 social distancing protocols allow meetings to continue.

The Kansas City Branch of the NAACP and the superintendent of the Kearney School District in Kearney, Missouri, separately contacted CRS in June 2019 after several allegations of racist bullying at Kearney High School. Students and parents alleged a pattern of racially motivated harassment and bullying dating back to 2017, including anti-Black targeting and the use of racial slurs on school property, school buses, and social media. Concerned about their children’s safety, the parents expressed an interest in raising awareness and educating members of the school district and community. Prior to reaching out to CRS, the school district had established a diversity, equity and inclusion task force and hired a diversity consultant to work with students, staff, and community in the past. However, school district leaders felt additional work was needed to address school and community concerns. CRS met with school leaders to discuss planning a joint School-Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (School-SPIRIT) program for students later that year. In September 2019, a video also spread on social media allegedly showing a white student repeatedly using racial slurs targeting a Black sophomore, leading to heightened racial tensions in the community.

CRS conducted the School-SPIRIT in December 2019 for more than 130 student leaders from Kearney High School and Kearney Junior High School. During the daylong session, students identified racism, bullying, lack of staff diversity, and mental health issues as areas of concern and discussed possible solutions to these issues. Session facilitators included the mayor of Kearney, faith leaders, and local business and community leaders.

Following the program, 28 students volunteered to form a SPIRIT council to implement some of the identified solutions. School leaders and SPIRIT council members committed to identifying the most effective solutions, developing an implementation plan, and following up on the plan’s success. CRS supported the SPIRIT council as it worked to implement solutions, including the planning of a mural to support mental health at the junior high and a school event to promote diversity and mental health. The SPIRIT council also worked with the Kearney Inclusion and Diversity (KIND) committee, formed by the school district to support education and discussion of diversity issues. Additionally, the Kearney mayor and board of aldermen passed a resolution in December 2019 pledging to support the SPIRIT council’s goals and initiatives and commending the Kearney School District for its participation in the SPIRIT program.

In October 2017, African American community leaders in Raytown, Missouri and the Kansas City Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) contacted CRS due to increased community tension following allegations that local law enforcement officers harassed and discriminated against the city’s only African American alderman on the basis of race. According to the allegations, the alderman was harassed during Board of Aldermen meetings and with comments on social media by law enforcement. The group that contacted CRS reported that Raytown’s African American residents felt unsafe in the city as a result of the alleged discrimination and harassment.

Following initial meetings, the Mayor of Raytown and NAACP representatives requested CRS’s assistance to facilitate the review and update of a 2004 CRS-mediated memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the city of Raytown and the Kansas City Branch of the NAACP developed to help de-escalate race-based tensions in the city. CRS first worked with the NAACP separately from the city and the local law enforcement officials and then brought the groups together in mediation sessions and facilitated dialogues to address their concerns about updating the 2004 MOU.

Both the Mayor of Raytown and NAACP’s Kansas City Branch signed an updated MOU, which addressed the parties’ concerns regarding the lack of diversity of city employees and the need for more youth outreach to promote positive interactions between youth and city agencies. The MOU also addressed the allegations of racial profiling by police and the need to form a human relations commission to help resolve police-citizen complaints.

As part of the agreement, the City of Raytown committed to participate in a CRS City-Site Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (City-SPIRIT) program “to invigorate community leaders with a passion for diversity in 2019.” CRS conducted the City-SPIRIT program in September 2019, bringing together approximately 20 participants, including city officials, law enforcement officials, faith leaders, and community groups. Participants discussed the lack of diversity among city employees and the allegations of racial profiling by law enforcement. They worked together to develop solutions to improve communication and minimize the potential for future conflict.

Following the October 2018 Tree of Life shooting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, interfaith communities in Des Moines, Iowa requested CRS assistance in response to increased tensions among faith communities and concerns about hate crimes and bias incidents at places of worship. Local reports involving swastika graffiti concerned faith communities worried about the potential for a hate crime in Des Moines.

Sparked by a change in the city’s demographics, including an increase in members of Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian, and Hindu (MASSAH) communities, the Des Moines Chief of Police, along with the interfaith communities, requested that CRS conduct a Protecting Places of Worship (PPOW) forum. The Director of Emergency Management for Polk County shared the chief’s goals of proactively conducting outreach to the city’s diverse faith communities, helping all faith communities in the city feel safe and welcome, and improving faith communities’ relationships with the city and the police department.

In February 2019, the Polk County Emergency Management Agency hosted the PPOW forum for law enforcement, municipal government leaders, and interfaith community members to address general safety best practices and community members’ fears in the aftermath of shootings targeting places of worship. The forum included presentations from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Infrastructure Protection; the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa (USAO-SDIA); representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); Scott County Emergency Management Agency; Polk County Emergency Management; Des Moines Police Department; and local interfaith leaders representing the Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, and Christian communities.

CRS convened the chief of police, director of emergency management, community leaders, and faith leaders in a working group to formalize a process for ongoing education about best practices for contingency planning and responding to incidents of bias or hate, including active shooters at places of worship.

In June 2019, local law enforcement officers found the body of a murdered African American transgender woman on the porch of an abandoned home. This homicide, the eleventh in 2019 targeting an African American transgender woman in Kansas City, was reminiscent of the murder of another African American transgender woman which occurred on the same block in 2015. The 2019 homicide intensified fears and concerns among the area’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) communities. A local LGBTQ youth advocacy organization requested CRS assistance in building stronger relationships with city law enforcement agencies.

Beginning in July 2019, CRS facilitated a series of dialogues with the LBGTQ youth advocacy organization and Kansas City LGBTQ communities. The first dialogue between the parties focused on engaging the city’s transgender communities with the broader Kansas City community. Next, CRS convened dialogues between the LGBTQ youth advocacy organization and local law enforcement to address the communities’ growing concerns about the homicide investigation and the vulnerability of transgender communities. Throughout the summer, CRS also provided consultation services to the parties on best practices to reduce community tensions and improve communications with the city’s LGBTQ communities. The dialogues clarified details on the investigation process and highlighted ways to strengthen the relationship between the city’s law enforcement and LGBTQ communities.

Participants at the dialogues jointly committed to improving relations between law enforcement and LGBTQ communities and forming an LGBTQ and law enforcement working group. The working group agreed on conducting a CRS Engaging and Building Relationships with Transgender Communities training. On September 17 and 18, 2019, CRS conducted the training for local law enforcement officers, working with local advocacy groups and law enforcement. During the training, transgender advocacy groups shared a brief presentation and other resources, in addition to the training materials and resources provided by CRS. The working group continues to meet quarterly to address law enforcement-community relations, enhance mutual trust, and increase collaboration.

In 2017, in Blue Springs, Missouri, racial graffiti was found on the window of an African American-owned barber shop. Within days of that incident, an African American student at a local high school discovered a racial slur written on one of her papers, while other African American students reported that certain students referred to a hallway area where they congregated as “Africa.”

The incidents caused tension in the Blue Springs community, and city officials contacted CRS for assistance. To help the community address the situation, CRS first worked with school administrators, faculty, and students to facilitate three School-SPIRIT programs at Blue Springs high schools from September to October 2017. The programs allowed students to discuss their concerns around issues such as bullying, teacher-student relationships, and mental health, and play an active role in identifying and implementing solutions to the underlying racial problems in their schools.

Based on the success of the School-SPIRIT programs, which received positive feedback from the community, city officials also requested that CRS facilitate a City-SPIRIT program to engage the broader Blue Springs community in dialogue, information sharing, and problem solving to address the city’s racial tension. CRS facilitated the Blue Springs City-SPIRIT program in January 2018 with leaders from diverse sectors in the community, including business owners, city officials, residents, public safety officials, student leaders, and school district officials.

The participants discussed concerns and future challenges in addressing the racial problems in the city. Following the discussions, participants agreed to form a SPIRIT Council to implement the recommendations developed during the program and to continue working to create greater unity in the Blue Springs community.

In September 2017, CRS worked with local officials and community groups to maintain peace following the acquittal of a white St. Louis police officer accused of murdering Anthony Lamar Smith, an African American male. Prior to the verdict, local officials were concerned that the outcome of the trial would spark community tension and violence.

In anticipation of protests, CRS facilitated meetings with local law enforcement, community leaders, faith-based groups, and civil rights organizations. The purpose of the meetings was to open a dialogue between stakeholders to strengthen community relations prior to the anticipated protests and to share best practices to support public safety during demonstrations.

The verdict led to multiple protests in the city of St. Louis and St. Louis County. While some of the protests resulted in arrests, CRS’s support helped local officials ensure many of the protests remained peaceful. After the protests subsided, CRS continued to provide services by identifying key leaders in the community and state and city governments to engage in future dialogues to promote peace in the community.