Training

The Conflict Resolution and Mediation Training is designed to help community and service providers effectively identify and address quality of life or divisive community issues through open and respectful dialogues or a more formalized mediation process that helps them develop their own peaceful resolutions.

The Law Enforcement Mediation Program is designed to strengthen the problem-solving and mediation skills of law enforcement officers and commanders who serve diverse communities. CRS works with them to identify opportunities to enhance the level of mutual respect and trust between their department and the community, and to help eliminate barriers to effective police service. A residual benefit of the program is that many of the issues addressed can lead to a reduced number of calls for police service and an increase in patrol efficiency.

This program brings together law enforcement and community members in order to address perceived racial profiling and biased-policing practices. The training-which can be tailored to meet the specific needs of both police and the community-helps reduce tension and create a shared understanding of the factors that contribute to mistrust. The course is an effective way to begin a police-community relations initiative or problem-solving process, and it encourages collaborative police-community relations.

The SPIRIT program is an interactive, student-based problem-solving program that engages students in developing solutions to problems associated with allegations of discrimination, harassment, and hate activity in schools. The two half-day sessions also engage school administrators, teachers, school resource officers, local officials, community leaders, and parents in the process of identifying and responding to these conflicts in schools and creating the safest possible environment for learning.

City SPIRIT is a problem-solving and resolution program that brings together representatives from local government agencies, communities, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, and businesses to develop collaborative approaches for reducing conflicts and addressing the factors that contribute to the conflicts. These groups may also develop approaches for preventing and responding to alleged violent hate crimes committed on the basis of actual or perceived race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion or disability. This program helps communities develop enduring strategies to prevent and respond to incidents.

CRS provides customized training and technical assistance to local Human Relations Commissions, or HRCs. This course would be beneficial when local government officials are interested in starting a Human Relations Commission, or when existing Human Relations Commission staff is interested in obtaining information on best practices for responding to discrimination complaints. CRS will work with local officials to develop training or a consultative program that supports an HRC's efforts to more effectively serve the needs of its community.

CRS offers a four-hour program intended to familiarize law enforcement and government officials with some of the customs and cultural aspects of Arab, Muslim, and Sikh communities. The program is an effective tool for helping law enforcement officers and commanders avoid behavior and actions that may be perceived as offensive. The program serves as part of a broader initiative to strengthen the relationship between local officials and the Arab, Muslim or Sikh communities. CRS also offers a Train-the-Trainer program that prepares Arab, Muslim, and Sikh community leaders to provide local law enforcement officials and first responders with a fundamental understanding of Arab, Muslim, and Sikh cultures.

The Hate Crimes Program is a training course that provides state and local law enforcement officers with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively address hate crimes in their communities. The program is designed to familiarize officers with information on best practices for identifying, reporting, investigating, and prosecuting hate crimes. The course also offers strategies for educating community members about hate crimes.

This training assists local law enforcement, city officials, and demonstration organizers with planning and managing safe marches and demonstrations. CRS facilitates meetings between all involved groups and serves as a neutral entity to ensure that logistics are coordinated, information is shared appropriately, and that marches and demonstrations are as safe as possible. CRS also provides self-marshalling training for organizers of protests and demonstrations. This training covers areas such as permit approval processes, route selection, effective communication and decision-making procedures during the event, logistical management, and contingency planning.

CRS assists communities in establishing rumor control measures following high-profile or divisive community incidents, protests, police investigations, jury verdicts, and other developments that contribute to the elevation of racial tension and the potential for violent hate crimes. CRS offers guidance on controlling inflammatory rumors with accurate and credible information by employing a proactive and coordinated approach to publicity, formalized community-notification processes, and other appropriate information-dissemination measures that can be customized to a community's needs.

In summer 2012, a public school teacher in Framingham allegedly removed a "hijab" from the head of a student despite protests from students who witnessed the incident. The hijab-often a simple head covering-is worn by some Muslim women as a symbol of modesty and morality, so the teacher's attempt to remove the hijab was interpreted as offensive and disrespectful. In fall 2012, the school district's superintendent and the school principal arranged for CRS to present its "Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Cultural Awareness Program" to the school's professional teaching staff. A total of 60 staff attended the CRS training program. The program was well-received, and the school district planned to offer the training to other schools in the system.

In spring 2012, CRS and the Maryland Coalition Opposed to Violence and Extremism (COVE) cohosted a Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Summit in Randallstown, MD. CRS convened more than 300 law enforcement professionals from across the state of Maryland, including representatives from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland, the Maryland State Police, the Towson University Police Chief, and the Maryland Attorney General's Office, among others, to define and discuss hate/bias crimes and incidents, reporting requirements, and the prosecutorial process.

In April 2012, the Broward County School District requested CRS' assistance in response to allegations of racial and ethnic tension between Black Haitian and African American students and faculty in schools. Media coverage of an African American teacher allegedly using racially disparaging remarks toward a Haitian student inflamed tensions. Later that month, CRS convened administrators, teachers, students, and concerned Haitian and African American parents and facilitated a dialogue to address their concerns. In June 2012, CRS presented "Drop by Drop," a cultural professionalism training, at the Bridge to Prevention Academy Conference, which was hosted by the Broward County Schools' Diversity, Cultural Outreach & Prevention Department through the Project Bridge/Safe Schools Healthy Students Initiative. The training provided foundational assistance for administrators, faculty, and concerned community members as they developed sustainable initiatives to ensure an inclusive educational environment.

In advance of upcoming international events, the FBI Field Office in Cincinnati requested CRS' assistance in training area law enforcement professionals in cultural professionalism. In response, CRS met with area law enforcement professionals and arranged to facilitate and teach multiple cultural professionalism training sessions and CRS' "Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Cultural Awareness Program" (AMS) sessions for the Cincinnati Police Department (CPD) and other local law enforcement agencies in southern Ohio and Northern Kentucky. CRS conducted these sessions during March and April 2012 in Cincinnati. The U.S. Deputy Attorney General, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, the CRS Acting National Director, and the CRS Deputy Director attended the AMS portion of the training on April 3 and participated in a community dialogue with diverse members of the greater Cincinnati area. Both the Mayor and Police Chief of Cincinnati attended this dialogue. In addition, CRS followed up these multiple training sessions with a Train-the-Trainer session for the Cincinnati Police Department Training Academy staff in late April. CRS trained a total of 940 Cincinnati Police officers. The Training Academy staff trained an additional 110 CPD officers in May and June. In all, 1,050 CPD officers and 75 additional officers from other jurisdictions completed the training sessions.

In spring 2012, the leaders of an Islamic Center in Springfield arrived at the center to find the charred remains of three Qurans on its doorstep. According to local media, a letter containing death threats against Muslims accompanied the charred Qurans. The media also reported that the FBI was investigating the incident as a hate crime. In response to community concern, CRS staff presented its "Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Cultural Awareness Program" at an event in Springfield cosponsored by the Islamic Center of Springfield and the Mayor's Commission on Human Rights. Among others, the Springfield Police Chief and Springfield Police Department's command staff attended. The event helped all who attended increase their understanding of their Arab American, Muslim, and Sikh neighbors' customs and traditions.

In summer 2011, an African American Board Member of the Atchison Chamber of Commerce contacted CRS about presenting CRS' City SPIRIT problem-solving program to the Chamber. (CRS' City SPIRIT program is a two-day problem-solving and resolution program that brings together representatives from local government agencies, the community, faith-based organizations, law enforcement, and businesses to develop collaborative approaches for reducing conflicts and addressing the factors that contribute to the conflicts.) CRS involvement was requested due to racial tensions in local African American and other minority communities regarding their perceived lack of inclusion, employment opportunities, and outreach from mainstream community institutions. Atchison minority community leaders stated that they believed the City SPIRIT would help the community address racial tension and other concerns. Through the coordinated and combined effort of the Chamber of Commerce, the Atchison School District, the Atchison Sheriff's Department and city government officials, CRS conducted the two-day problem-solving program, renamed VISIONQUEST Atchison, in spring 2012.

CRS learned that, in the aftermath of an alleged sexual assault of a Native American Two-Spirit (gay) male, the Wind River Indian Reservation's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) advocate, Wind River Tribal leadership, and Wind River BIA law enforcement officials were in dispute over a perceived lack of community and law enforcement response to the incident. CRS convened and facilitated discussions between Northern Arapaho Tribal leadership, Wind River Indian Reservation BIA law enforcement, and Wind River LGBT Advocacy. In March 2012, CRS facilitated and instructed a hate crimes training for BIA law enforcement, Northern Arapaho Tribal leadership, and Tribal community members. After the training, CRS facilitated dialogues that ultimately led to a Tribal community-based action plan to address Wind River Indian Reservation LGBT concerns: ensuring that Wind River Indian Reservation LGBT concerns will be included in future problem-solving discussions between the Reservation and Fremont County, Wyoming, over perceived health-care disparities; coordinating outreach between BIA, the REZ Action advocacy organization, and at future Youth Summits; utilizing the Regional Wyoming Association of Churches to address hate crimes prevention and reporting; and encouraging Tribal proclamations in support of the Two-Spirit LGBT community.

Community tensions over Native Americans' high dropout rates in the local school system and perceptions of disciplinary bias against them led CRS to convene leaders of the city's Urban Indian community and education administrators. CRS conducted a series of workshops with the leaders in order to identify opportunities to address the students' achievement gap and the development of collaborative efforts to closely monitor disciplinary actions, to dispel misinformation, and to create awareness of issues and perceptions among teachers throughout the school system. The workshops led to the development of a plan to mitigate the issues, which has become a nationally recognized model for addressing similar Urban Indian student issues in school systems throughout the country.

CRS conducted a cultural awareness program for Rhode Island Superior Court personnel on Arab, Muslim, and Sikh (AMS) sensitivity issues. Court personnel including security, clerical, attorneys, and judges come into daily contact with a very diverse population. Reports of conflicts and misunderstandings led the Chief Judge to seek CRS assistance in providing staff with a better understanding of AMS cultural norms. More than 40 court staff members participated in the training.

In March 2011, CRS conducted a Responding to Allegations of Racial Profiling: Building Trust between the Police and the Community training program with local law enforcement officials. Approximately 30 command and patrol-level officers, as well as several Field Training Officers participated. The training was requested by the local police department in an effort to improve uniformed police-community relations. Also in attendance were representatives from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Pennsylvania's Heritage Affairs Office, who spoke on Ethnic Intimidation Statutes in the Pennsylvania State Crimes Codes.

Following plans of a local religious group to construct a Mosque in the city, tensions developed between Muslim residents and community members who oppose the Mosque. Many Muslim community members reported threats, harsh interactions with non-Muslim community members, and a sharp rise in the bullying of Muslim students in schools. By request of the Nashville Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, CRS began working with representatives from the organization planning to build the Mosque, school district officials, local law enforcement patrol officers and School Resource Officers to conduct an Arab-Muslim Cultural Awareness & Protocol training seminar, and to generally open-up dialogue between the participants and Muslim community leaders. More than 120 people participated in the trainings. In addition to the training participants, several representatives from state human rights organizations, the state Department of Education, the NAACP, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee observed the training.

On May 18, 2011, CRS deployed to Fayetteville, North Carolina, at the request of a local police department and the City of Fayetteville's Human Rights Commission in the aftermath of heightened racial tension in the African American community. The racial tension stemmed from a report published by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) that alleged a significantly disproportionate number of stops and searches of African American motorists compared with White motorists by the local police department. CRS conducted two training sessions designed to address community allegations of racial profiling. Approximately 180 police officers and 80 community members participated in the first session held at a local church. The second session was held on the campus of Fayetteville State University, where approximately 85 police officers and 60 community members participated.

CRS provided self-marshalling training to 30 volunteers for a march that was part of a three-day gay pride festival. CRS also coordinated communication between march organizers, marchers, and local police on June 26, 2011. CRS became involved at the request of members of an LGBT advocacy group based on their concerns about the potential for violence by anti-LGBT activists. The group feared a recurrence of disruptions by fundamentalist church members from another city who had demonstrated during their previous festivals, including a particularly disruptive anti-LGBT activist who allegedly assaulted a member of their steering committee during the previous year's event.

On December 15, 2010, CRS met with local police department officials to discuss protocols used during police interactions with non-English speaking Hispanic residents. Both the police department and Hispanic community leaders requested CRS' involvement in response to concerns about a community perception of inappropriate treatment of the aggrieved population during police contacts. Nineteen officers and several community representatives participated in the training, which was intended to be a means of bridging cultural divides.

In December 2009, CRS conducted a Cultural Awareness and Competency Program and dialogue with law enforcement officials and Sudanese and Somali immigrant community members. CRS services were requested in response to community racial tension following reports that a police officer allegedly shot and killed a Sudanese immigrant. The State Attorney General was called upon to conduct an investigation that resulted in a report clearing the police officer. CRS' Cultural Awareness and Competency Program is designed to bring law enforcement and minority communities together to foster mutual understanding and enhance law enforcement's outreach capabilities by addressing cultural behaviors, sensitivities, stereotypes, and expectations during interactions with minority communities.

In June 2010, CRS conducted a Cultural Awareness and Competency Program for court personnel. CRS services were requested in response to increasing racial tension between the predominately Caucasian staff and Hispanic, Asian, and African American users of the court. The tension allegedly stemmed from the combination of the assumption by some court staff that court visitors were there due to criminal offenses along with the pre-existing distrust of law enforcement by some community members. The tension reportedly resulted in arguments between staff and court visitors. Due to the success of the June 2010 program, the court's Administrative Office requested that a second program be conducted to include court law enforcement officials. The second program was conducted in September 2010.

In December 2009, CRS conducted a Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together (SPIRIT) Program at a local high school. CRS services were requested following increased racial tensions between African American and Asian students that resulted in violent altercations and the hospitalization of Asian students. It was reported that the incidents spread to off-campus sites including neighboring city blocks and subway stations. CRS worked with local agencies, the school district, and local advocacy organizations to end a subsequent boycott of the school by Asian students. Seventy-five students were selected to participate in the SPIRIT Program to help identify issues of concern and seek solutions. After the SPIRIT Program, the high school established a Student Advisory Council comprised of students elected by the SPIRIT participants. The Student Advisory Council and school officials reported their commitment to working collaboratively to improve student relations.

In June 2010, CRS provided self-marshalling training and contingency planning assistance to state and local support organizations and concerned community members in preparation for a peace rally. The rally was organized by community leaders in response to reports that the Aryan Nation, a Neo-Nazi White supremacist group, would hold a First Amendment demonstration at the Gettysburg National Military Park. The training for community members and organizations focused on responding to potentially disruptive participants, how to answer other emergencies, and ways to de-escalate tension levels. CRS monitored and provided on-site conciliation services as necessary during the rally. Both the rally and the demonstration concluded without incident.

In June 2010, CRS provided a Responding to Allegations of Racial Profiling training to the Hammond Police Department. The training was requested by concerned citizens and law enforcement officials following residual community tensions in the wake of the burning of an African American youth, allegedly by Caucasian teenagers. Racial tensions reportedly flared upon announcement that only one suspect was being charged. CRS trained the Department's Command Staff in a train-the-trainer format, and the training will be administered to investigators and patrol personnel in roll call.