Mountain Central Region

In August 2019, following a community forum, city officials and the Galveston Police Department (GPD) Chief of Police in Galveston, Texas, agreed to participate in a CRS Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships (SPCP) program in the Gulf Coast city. Racial tensions increased in the Black community in Galveston after police officers, mounted on horseback, arrested a Black man and led him in handcuffs by a rope behind their horses. The public compared the officers’ actions to patrols used for catching men and women who fled slavery. Community members expressed distrust in the police department for its handling of the incident.

Galveston community leaders organized a forum to allow residents to voice concerns and ask questions of a panel consisting of political candidates and local activists. Concerns raised by the 150 participants included the need for mental health resources, police training and procedures for arresting individuals with mental illnesses, and policies for filing complaints against GPD officers. CRS shared information about CRS programs and services at the forum to help reduce tensions and address its source. After the community forum, Galveston city officials agreed to conduct the SPCP program to re-establish trust with the community and partnership with the GPD. An SPCP planning group of five community members prepared for the delivery of the program. CRS facilitated the planning meetings and trained session facilitators.

In November 2019, CRS facilitated the SPCP program for approximately 100 participants, including representatives from the a local university, a local school district, NAACP, and a Hispanic American national civil rights organization. Other participants included GPD officers; youth leaders; clergy; business owners; Black, Latino, and white community members; and residents from the east, midtown, and west end neighborhoods in Galveston. The participants worked in facilitated small groups to identify the strengths of the community and areas of concern. As a full group, the participants prioritized law enforcement’s and the community groups’ primary concerns, including negative perceptions of each other, a lack of police training, and mental health, and identified potential solutions to these issues.

During the program, program participants selected representatives from each small group to serve on a council to implement some of the identified solutions.

In January 2020, CRS facilitated the first SPCP council meeting, including Galveston city officials, the police chief, and the newly elected 2-member council. CRS drafted the rules of engagement to guide the SPCP council’s work, which the police chief approved and the council adopted. The council now operates independently, and CRS is available to support the council as needed.

CRS facilitated a series of two community dialogues in October 2019 and February 2020, respectively, to help strengthen police-community relations in Houston, Texas. Representatives from the local law enforcement requested CRS services to address Black and Latino community members’ concerns and quell increasing racial tensions stemming from a January 2019 incident in southeast Houston that left five officers injured and the two suspects shot and killed. When officers served a search warrant, the suspects allegedly opened fire as the officers breached the front door of the residence. The incident led to concerns and fears among Black and Latino community leaders and residents in southeast Houston over perceived police excessive use of force and gun violence in the city.

In August 2019, by invitation of city officials and law enforcement leaders, CRS met with Houston city officials, local law enforcement leaders, the Greater Houston League of United Latin American Citizens Council, the Houston Branch of the NAACP, and a local advocacy organization to identify potential CRS services and resources to improve police-community relations. During the meeting, the parties requested that CRS facilitate a community dialogue to address community concerns. They formed a group comprised of law enforcement leaders, diverse community leaders, religious leaders, and advocates to plan the event.

Approximately 40 Houston community leaders participated in the October facilitated dialogue, including city officials, law enforcement, educators, civic leaders, advocates, service providers, students, and faith leaders. In five small groups, the participants addressed guiding questions posed by the trained facilitators to identify problems or barriers impacting law enforcement-community partnerships between the local law enforcement and the Houston community. Primary concerns raised in the small group discussions included fear and mistrust of law enforcement, a lack of law enforcement accountability to resolve issues and recognize pain points within the community, and a need for community education related to police laws and procedures and to increase cultural awareness.

In February 2020, CRS facilitated a second dialogue session where participants developed solutions to address the concerns raised in October. Proposed solutions included decreasing fear through improved interactions with law enforcement in communities and educating the Houston community on police officers’ roles and responsibilities. Before concluding this dialogue, community leaders introduced a newly created 10-member council, whose members committed to participate in follow-up meetings to implement the identified solutions during the dialogue sessions.

In early FY 2020, a group of law enforcement leaders requested that CRS conduct the Engaging and Building Partnerships with Muslim Americans training program during a session at an annual conference for campus law enforcement officials. Law enforcement officials felt their state and local officers would benefit from the CRS training due, in part, to the local Muslim population’s growth, recent cases of mistaken identity, and misunderstandings about Muslim religious beliefs.

In December 2019, CRS and a subject matter expert delivered the training at the conference in The Woodlands, Texas, for approximately 50 police chiefs and assistant police chiefs from colleges and universities across Texas.

The training provided the police officers with a better understanding of Muslim religious beliefs and culture, increased awareness of civil rights related issues that impact Muslim Americans, and tools and best practices for engaging with the community. At the conclusion of the training, officers developed plans to conduct outreach to Muslim communities in their jurisdictions to improve interactions, build partnerships, and increase public trust.

In August 2020, CRS conducted its first two virtual Protecting Places of Worship (PPOW) forums for a national audience. Rice University’s Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, American Jewish Committee (AJC), and an interfaith coalition requested CRS services in response to concerns from faith communities regarding a rise in hate incidents and cases of vandalism directed at places of worship.

During the summer of 2020, media reports highlighted vandalism cases targeting mosques, synagogues, and churches throughout the nation, including in Florida, New York, Michigan, and Texas. The vandalism involved smashing windows, spray-painting hate speech and swastikas, and damaging religious statues. Earlier in the year, CRS had formed a working group with the Boniuk Institute, AJC, and two other faith-based organizations to address communities’ concerns over anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Catholicism. CRS provided the community leaders with best practices and information on preventing and responding to hate crimes directed at places of worship, including a description of the PPOW forum. Participants received information on government resources, programs, and tools to secure places of worship.

More than 240 individuals attended the two forums, which were open to all faith communities nationwide. Forum panelists included representatives from CRS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey. The panelists shared information on preventing and responding to bias incidents and hate crimes directed toward places of worship and best practices for collaboration among government, law enforcement, and faith communities. The panelists also discussed hate crime laws, statistics, and case studies. The FEMA representative provided details on grant opportunities for places of worship seeking to bolster security. Following the presentations, CRS facilitated a question-and-answer session where audience members asked about hate crimes reporting procedures, best practices for prevention, and tips for working together with interfaith and law enforcement agencies.

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.

Following the February 1, 2019 vandalism of a Hindu temple in Louisville, Kentucky, Hindus of Greater Houston leaders requested a public Protecting Places of Worship (PPOW) forum. Members of the group had participated in a March 15, 2018 interfaith PPOW forum at Rice University in Houston and believed that holding another forum would help address community concerns about escalation and the possibility of violence in Houston.

CRS provided consultation services to assist Hindus of Greater Houston in planning the PPOW forum, including convening an interfaith working group to help with preparation. The working group was comprised of representatives from, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, a local university, and a local synagogue. In April 2019, CRS facilitated the forum at a local temple for approximately 65 participants representing 40 faith-based organizations. Presenters included the Department of Homeland Security, Office of Infrastructure Protection; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas (USAO-SDTX); Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – Houston Field Office; Harris County District Attorney’s Office; and Houston Police Department. Speakers shared information about best practices relating to hate crimes prosecutions, hate crimes statistics and symbols of hate, and preventing and responding to active shooter situations. In addition, interfaith leaders led a panel discussion on protecting places of worship.

Forum participants created an interfaith working group that meets quarterly. The group continues to plan interfaith programming on preventing and responding to hate crimes for the community in the Greater Houston area.

Witnesses at an October 2017 high school football game in Dallas, Texas, alleged that cheerleaders from the rival school exchanged racially insensitive comments, which later appeared on social media. As a result of the incident, racial tension between the two schools became extremely high, and school leaders became concerned about public safety.

Fearing rapid escalation, school district officials placed an urgent call to CRS to help facilitate a dialogue between the two schools. That same day, CRS held an emergency dialogue with the principals, coaches, district personnel, and counselors to discuss the incident and how to address the conflict. The group decided to have CRS facilitate its School-SPIRIT program with the two schools, and CRS immediately began training district staff to serve as program facilitators.

Less than 48 hours after the initial call, CRS assisted district staff in facilitating the School-SPIRIT program. The program allowed students to discuss the racial tension between the schools and empowered them to identify solutions. At the program’s conclusion, CRS met with the principals of both schools to discuss the students’ recommendations on how to address the inter-school conflicts.

The School-SPIRIT program resulted in a written action plan with concrete steps for both schools to improve relations between the student bodies.

Less than 30 days after the School-SPIRIT program, the Easthampton SPIRIT Council met to begin implementing solutions to address issues identified as priorities during the program.

The sheriff of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, requested CRS assistance to develop a Community Advisory Board to address the community’s concerns about perceived disparate treatment of inmates, based on race, at the Cleveland County Detention Center.

In April 2018, CRS facilitated a dialogue with county officials and the sheriff to outline the mission, goals, application process, and structure of the board. From April to May 2018, the county accepted applications to join the board, and a panel of community leaders reviewed the applications.

In June 2018, CRS and the sheriff’s department met with an existing group, the Oklahoma Police and Community Trust, which included community advocates and members of civil rights groups, to discuss implementing the board. At the meeting, discussion topics included violence, mental health, racial bias, and other issues impacting inmates of the detention center. The meeting helped to build trust between the county and the community, create transparency on how the board was established, and provide a voice to the community on how detention center inmates were treated.

The Cleveland County Community Advisory Board held its first meeting in September 2018 and is the only group of its kind in the state. The board’s members include representatives from a diverse cross section of communities from Oklahoma City to Lexington, as well as unincorporated areas of the county.

In 2016, a media report alleged that a local police department mocked a transgender man and failed to arrest his attacker. LGBTQ community leaders reported increased community concerns related to disparate treatment following the incident. CRS organized and led a facilitated dialogue between LGBTQ community leaders and the local police chief. As a direct result of CRS’ work, the chief agreed to meet with LGBTQ community leaders on a quarterly basis to address issues and concerns that directly affect interactions between the LGBTQ community and law enforcement. Additionally, CRS organized and led facilitated dialogues between LGBTQ community leaders, city officials, and other stakeholders. A direct outcome of CRS’ work was the creation of the Mayor’s LGBT Advisory Board.

In September 2020, CRS conducted a virtual Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes forum in response to community tension following an alleged hate crime against a Sikh business owner that involved both assault and vandalism.

In April 2020, a white man entered a Lakewood, Colorado, liquor store and began knocking items off the counter and yelling that Sikh business owners did not belong in the country because they were from the Middle East. The perpetrator fled to his car, allegedly running over the business owner when he attempted to record the car’s license plate, leaving the owner hospitalized for a month with extensive injuries. The assailant was charged with a hate crime and attempted murder, in addition to other charges. The community believed the motivation for the attempted murder was due to the victim’s perceived national origin and religion.

Following the incident, CRS began to discuss ways to address the resulting community tension with Colorado Sikh Temple leadership. In July 2020, CRS began facilitating meetings with Sikh and other community members to plan a forum for the Sikh community that would include a hate crimes briefing, information about where and how to report hate crimes, and an update on the pending charges against the assailant.

An audience of 25 community members and federal law enforcement attended the virtual forum, hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado (USAO-CO) and facilitated by CRS. During the forum, presenters shared information on federal, state, and local hate crimes laws, as well as methods to combat and respond to bias incidents and hate crimes. Presenters included representatives of the Denver field office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), USAO-CO, Denver County District Attorney’s Office, Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Office/Hate Free Colorado, Sikh Coalition, and an international civil and human rights organization. An FBI field agent also provided interpretation services in Punjabi during the program.

In November 2019, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana (USAO-MT) and Bozeman and Gallatin County faith leadership requested CRS services to address community tension following a series of religion-based bias incidents and racial hate incidents in the community. The request stemmed from several incidents that had occurred earlier in the year. First, in January 2019, a Black and Native American biracial couple’s car had been spray-painted with racial epithets. In addition, in March 2019, Montana State University discovered a sticker promoting a neo-Nazi group on its campus. Then, in August 2019, the Gallatin County Sheriff’s office received a call about anti-religion graffiti at the Three Forks Methodist Church that read “666” and “God is dead.” The community became concerned that the vandalism and the presence of hate groups might escalate to a violent hate crime.

In response, CRS facilitated a Protecting Places of Worship forum in March 2020 for 30 Bozeman and Gallatin County faith leaders and community members. Panelists included representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, USAO-MT, Gallatin County Attorney’s Office, Bozeman Police Department, Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, and statewide faith leaders, who provided information ranging from facts about hate crimes prosecutions to church-to-church assistance in response to hate targeting and responding to active shooter situations.

Following the forum, attendees asked federal partners for assistance developing safety plans for their places of worship. CRS coordinated with the Montana field office of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which provided a virtual training in May 2020 on developing the individualized plans based on needs and resources available. In addition, faith leaders began meeting monthly to develop strategies, such as scheduling community meetings, to prevent and respond to anti-religion hate targeting in their community.

Latino community leaders in Salt Lake County, Utah requested CRS services to address increased community tensions following a November 2018 incident in which three men were attacked with a metal pole while the assailant yelled racial epithets, because he believed the men were Mexican. In February 2019, federal prosecutors indicted the attacker on hate crimes charges.

Following the bias-based attack, Latino business owners and religious leaders alleged that customers regularly harassed Latino business owners based on their national origin or race and that the harassment typically was not reported. Latino business owners, as well as the broader Latino community perceived the local law enforcement’s response as insufficient and were therefore unlikely to report bias-motivated incidents. Members of the Latino community reported that they lacked comprehensive information about how state hate crimes statutes are applied and how public officials, including law enforcement, would respond to attacks against Latinos.

Spurred by the recent attack and the increased tension within the community, Latino community leaders in the county and throughout Utah asked CRS to facilitate dialogues with public officials to gain a better understanding of community safeguards and protections available to address hate crimes targeting the Latino community based on race or national origin.

In July 2019, CRS facilitated a dialogue with Latino community leaders and the local District Attorney’s Office for approximately 30 community members. The district attorney’s office representatives provided information on the definition of a hate crime and how hate crimes, especially hate crimes targeting Latinos, are prosecuted in the county. CRS provided additional information to participants on how the community could address specific conflicts or hate incidents, form working groups, develop a clergy response team, hold a hate crimes forum, or address school-based hate incidents.

The CRS-facilitated session focused on building connections to increase mutual understanding between law enforcement and the Latino community. Community participants spoke about how immigration status and language barriers lead to increased fears and decreased reporting of bias incidents, about hate activity in schools, and strategies to address non-criminal hate activity. The local District Attorney’s Office assured Latino community leaders that county prosecutors would appropriately respond to bias-motivated crimes and provide Latino community leaders with formal and informal access to their office. Following the facilitated session, community members expressed increased confidence in contacting the District Attorney’s office with their concerns regarding bias-motivated crimes.

In December 2018, after a series of bias-motivated attacks and hate crimes at places of worship throughout the country, faith-based leaders in Cody, Wyoming contacted CRS and expressed increasing fears and concerns about a similar attack happening locally.

Local law enforcement also contacted CRS to raise their shared concerns with Cody area faith leaders about the safety of places of worship, including preparing for active shooter situations, and improving relations between faith communities and law enforcement.

To address the growing concerns of the Cody community, CRS, along with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming (USAO-WY), facilitated a March 2019 Protecting Places of Worship (PPOW) forum for more than 125 participants. The Mayor of Cody welcomed participants and spoke about the importance of faith leadership in the community. Other participants included religious leaders from across the region, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the Cody Police Department. The forum included representatives from the Wyoming Interfaith Network who discussed the role of faith leaders in keeping their communities safe. A Network representative also presented on hate crimes and bias-motivated vandalism targeting places of worship in Wyoming. During the opening discussion part of the forum, participants identified how various federal, state, and local resources would respond in the event a hate crime was committed on the basis of religion.

In 2019, tensions among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer or Questioning (LGBTQ) and African American students at a local high school in Cheyenne, Wyoming steadily increased. School and community relations became more strained in March 2019 after flyers appeared on the school’s walls that expressed anti-African American and anti-LGBTQ messages. The flyer incident and an incident involving a state senator who allegedly made anti-LGBTQ comments at a meeting of the school’s LGBTQ youth organization were at the center of the community tension.

State health officials and a Cheyenne-based civil rights organization contacted CRS to improve deteriorating relationships at the school. After news of the flyers on the school walls became public, additional stories spread of students at the school passing out flyers targeting Gay Student Alliance (GSA) members. The school also confirmed reports that a student shouted anti-LGBTQ slurs during a junior high school LGBTQ youth organization meeting.

CRS facilitated a process between the district superintendent, the school board, and race-based and ethnic community leaders to address community concerns regarding the management of bias incidents and equity issues throughout the district. In addition, the parties discussed ways to create greater race and ethnic awareness.

The groups then participated in a community meeting where participants developed an action plan for Cheyenne’s schools and the broader community that identified the community’s key issues concerning race and ethnicity, perceived anti-LGBTQ bias, and ways to address these concerns. Meeting participants established two working groups, one with the school board and superintendent to identify the public’s concerns and make recommendations, and a second with African American and Latino leaders. Both working groups agreed to carry out the action plan that was informed by all dialogue participants.

In early FY 2019, local American Indian reservation communities requested CRS conflict resolution services to address community concerns over allegations of disparate treatment and limited law enforcement response to community concerns. The community claimed that law enforcement officers ignored their concerns that American Indian youth and women were being targeted for human trafficking. They also reported that local law enforcement failed to respond to emergency calls made by tribal members, including calls for assistance at reservation schools.

As a result, in October 2018, CRS began working with community leadership from the local American Indian reservation communities and the American Indian’s women’s advocacy organization in response to these concerns, resulting in the formation of a working group to finalize plans for a community forum.

In November 2018, CRS facilitated a forum held by local tribal leadership that included remarks from tribal officials and a presentation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana (USAO-MT) on human trafficking and access to services. The 68 attending community members learned examples of how they could effectively partner with law enforcement in preventing various types of criminal activity, including trafficking, from occurring in their community. CRS assisted forum participants in developing a “Community Safety Response Contingency Plan” intended to further heighten awareness, facilitate service referral, and support a law enforcement response.

In October 2017, Wyoming state officials notified CRS of three incidents that were increasing tensions among Native American female students at a local college. The first two incidents involved message boards with postings of anti-Native American racial slurs targeting the only two Native American females attending the school at the time. The third incident involved vandalism of a vehicle owned by one of the targeted Native American women. No perpetrator was identified in any of the incidents.

Community tensions increased due to the alleged lack of an investigation or institutional response to the incidents from campus law enforcement. In November 2017, CRS responded to a request from college officials to convene the parties and facilitate dialogue to rebuild trust between law enforcement and the Native American community and diffuse racial tension. CRS led conflict resolution discussions between tribal leaders, alleged victims, law enforcement, and college officials to address the college’s response to the alleged hate incidents and tribal community concerns.

CRS worked with tribal leadership to make trauma counseling services available to the affected students and their parents and convened a briefing for the parents on the status of campus law enforcement’s response to the incidents. CRS also provided the college administration with hate crimes resources to help guide future responses by campus law enforcement to address the students’ and parents’ concerns.

In January 2018, CRS convened community leaders and school officials in a working group to discuss possible response options to the October 2017 alleged hate incidents. In February 2018, CRS facilitated a Hate Crimes Forum at the college with approximately 50 student, faculty, and administration participants. The forum featured representatives from federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies; tribal organizations; and education institutions. CRS also helped local tribal groups and education officials address concerns about educational access opportunities at the college.

In December 2016, a mandatory evacuation was ordered for occupants at a Native American Camp in Fort Yates, North Dakota. The evacuation impacted a Native American tribe and other groups protesting the development of the Dakota Access Pipeline which was planned to run through the camp. Protesters from the tribe and other groups vowed to stay at the camp, despite the mandatory evacuation, alleging the development would take place on sacred land. This standoff heightened tension in the region and created a threat to public safety and the welfare of families and children due to the harsh North Dakota winter.

Amid these tensions, CRS met with representatives from federal, state, and local government; social service groups; and the Native American tribe to facilitate dialogue. CRS mediated discussions among the various stakeholders to reduce fears and misconceptions regarding the evacuation, disseminate information on transportation and relocation services, coordinate health and safety measures, and support education and child welfare services. In February 2017, the state issued another order for the protesters to evacuate the camp due to the dangers of impending spring floods in the area. With support from CRS and other stakeholders, most protesters left the camp peacefully by the deadline and without incident.

In June 2019, city officials requested that CRS provide consultation and other services to help city leaders address community members’ longstanding frustrations with the city and police department, especially the frustrations of African American and Latino residents. Law enforcement-community relations in Phoenix had been strained, partly because of the findings of a study that had been commissioned by local law enforcement officials. The study, which concluded that Phoenix led the United States in fatal officer-involved shootings, had been extensively covered by local media.

Tensions had been further heightened in May 2019 when bystanders recorded video of local law enforcement officers arresting an African American family, including two young children. The video spread widely, first on social media and then in news reports, and showed officers drawing their weapons and making what some interpreted as threatening remarks to the family. The family, other members of the African American community, and community organizations alleged that the police escalated the situation and used excessive force in comparison to the alleged incident, which was the theft of a doll from a store by the four-year-old child. Concerns were raised that the family’s race was a factor in the case.

An incident report released by the police stated that while officers responded to an unrelated shoplifting call, witnesses made allegations to the officers that the family had taken merchandise from the store without paying. The city and law enforcement officials released public statements of concern due to the disproportionality of the officers’ response compared to the alleged crime.

CRS provided consultation services to city and law enforcement officials immediately following the incident that included providing best practices for community engagement, particularly during the first days following a critical incident. Throughout June 2019, CRS continued to support city officials and the police department, providing best practices for holding effective listening sessions to address community concerns.

The city held the first public listening session for more than 3,000 attendees at a large, historic African American church. The city and CRS jointly coordinated with the city’s African American pastors to participate in the session and create an environment conducive to open communication. At the session, African American and Latino community members described experiences of excessive force by law enforcement, allegedly due to the victims’ race or national origin. Both community groups expressed concern that the city was not holding the officers accountable for their actions and that city officials were not acting transparently to thoroughly address the concerns.

The city held its regularly scheduled city council meeting the day following the listening session. CRS advised the city on methods to structure the meeting and provided contingency planning support and best practices for handling the anticipated large crowds.

The June listening session and council meeting were successful steps forward for the community. The city and law enforcement officials asked CRS to provide additional support for their efforts to impact lasting improvements in the city’s law enforcement-community relations. CRS trained facilitators to conduct a July community-led listening session, which was intended to clarify proposed solutions to the community concerns shared at previous listening sessions and city council meetings. While CRS provided on-site support, the facilitators planned their efforts to take the work product developed and meet with other city parties, including the city’s ad hoc committee that reviews community oversight of local law enforcement.

In October 2019, Phoenix city officials and local law enforcement requested that CRS facilitate a dialogue to help restore trust and address the longstanding history of tension between police and the Latino community. Throughout FY 2019, CRS worked with Black community leaders to address similar tensions and concerns over racial targeting and the subsequently strained relations between the Black community and law enforcement.

Tensions escalated in the Phoenix, Arizona, community following the release of a video in May 2019 showing police officers arresting a Black family while using what appeared to be excessive use of force. CRS worked to coordinate the city’s first public listening session, ensuring it would be a safe space where both Black and Latino community groups felt comfortable openly voicing their concerns. At the session, Black and Latino communities expressed concerns over the city’s lack of accountability for the police officers’ actions. The participants and facilitators formed a working group, a coalition of community members, to work together on longer-term community engagement strategies and propose solutions to Phoenix city officials.

Throughout October and November 2019, CRS met with city officials to clarify core community concerns raised during the listening session, identify potential community facilitators, and discuss the format and design for an upcoming facilitated dialogue. CRS also convened concerned Latino community members and local Latino organizations to gather their feedback and suggestions on strategies to improve police-community relations. In January 2020, CRS met with a group of law enforcement representatives and Latino community members in Phoenix to share best practices and community engagement strategies for listening to and quelling concerns of the Latino community in a non-violent fashion, as well as to plan facilitator training and community dialogue in inclusive locations around the city. CRS provided facilitator training to volunteers selected by members of the planning group and the working group formed in 2019. In February 2020, in coordination with Phoenix city officials, law enforcement, and Latino community organizations, CRS facilitated dialogue with approximately 50 participants from the monolingual Latino community divided into small groups. A CRS conciliation specialist or CRS-trained volunteer facilitated each of the small group discussions in Spanish. Participants discussed issues, including language barriers, lack of police officer accountability, and the need for police training on diversity and culture. Participants also identified solutions, including improvements to training for police officers and changes to police policy for strengthening police-community relations and addressing concerns about unfair treatment of the Latino community.