CRS Releases New Program to Help Protect Centers of Community

Created by the Justice Department’s Community Relations Service (CRS), Protecting Centers of Community forums are designed to provide space for federal, state, and local law enforcement, tribal and government officials, community organizations, mental health professionals, and interested members of the community to share information on hate crimes, reporting procedures, and build prevention and response capacity for violent incidents. An adaptation of CRS’s popular Protecting Places of Worship forums, Protecting Centers of Community forums are half-day sessions which include expert presentations and moderated discussions as well as networking opportunities.

The goals of a Protecting Centers of Community forum include:

• Improving participants’ understanding of local, state, and federal hate crimes laws and ways to report alleged hate crimes
• Building community-based working groups tasked with working on safety and security issues
• Identifying federal, state, tribal, and local resources, programs and tools to help protect/secure centers of community

Communities and organizations interested in participating in these programs may contact askCRS@usdoj.gov. Additional information about the Community Relations Service’s work with communities facing hate crimes, discrimination, and conflict based on race, religion, and other protected characteristics is available on its website at www.justice.gov/crs