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Department of Justice Announces National Community Policing Week
For Immediate Release
Office of Public Affairs
Attorney General Lynch, Dallas Cowboys to hold 21st Century Community Policing Youth Forum on Facebook Live!
Justice Department to Announce nearly $119 million in Grant Awards to Advance Community Policing Efforts
As part of the Obama Administration’s commitment to building stronger relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve, the Department of Justice will lead nearly 400 events in support of community policing efforts around the country. To further that effort, President Obama has designated the week of Oct. 2-8, 2016, as National Community Policing Week. The week is also an extension of the Attorney General’s 12-city Community Policing Tour that highlighted collaborative programs and policing practices designed to advance public safety, strengthen police-community relations, and foster mutual trust and respect between law enforcement and citizens. National Community Policing Week builds on President Obama’s efforts to engage with law enforcement and other members of the community to implement key recommendations from the 21st Century Policing Task Force report.
“Strengthening the relationship between law enforcement officers and the communities we serve and protect is one of my top priorities,” said Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch. “During National Community Policing Week, we will be hosting hundreds of events around the country designed to foster dialogue, promote cooperation, and help citizens and law enforcement officers get to know one another as partners in our shared efforts to build stronger, safer, and more just communities for every American.”
Community policing is a public safety philosophy based on partnership and cooperation between law enforcement and the communities that they are sworn to protect and serve. At the center of community policing is the idea that all members of the community, both officer and civilian, have a stake in the safety of their neighborhoods where they live and work.
To launch the national week of engagement, Attorney General Lynch will visit Dallas, Texas on MONDAY, OCT. 3, hold a 21st Century Community Policing Youth Forum with students, officer cadets, and Jason Witten and Barry Church of the Dallas Cowboys known for their work to bring communities and law enforcement together. The forum will also be featured on the Department of Justice Facebook Live page.
While in Dallas, the Attorney General will announce $119 million in grant funding through the Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). These grants will provide matching funding awards to 184 law enforcement agencies across the nation, aimed at creating, or in some cases protecting, more than 900 law enforcement positions. CHP provides funding directly to state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies for the hiring and rehiring of entry-level career law enforcement officers in an effort to create and preserve jobs and increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.
The following day, TUESDAY, OCT. 4, the Attorney General will join Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Erik Wilson at a National Night Out event at the University of North Texas at Dallas. National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie to make our neighborhoods safer, better places to live. Established in 1984 from a Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) grant, the goal of National Night Out is to build relationships with and between communities and law enforcement, to promote crime prevention efforts, and to foster collaborative engagement amongst neighbors who are committed to working together to keep each other safe. The Attorney General also attended National Night Out earlier in the summer during her visit to Detroit for the Justice Department’s first Justice Forum.
Also while in Dallas, the Attorney General will attend several meetings with rank-and-file officers, hold a roundtable discussion with local police chiefs, and pay respects to the families of those officers who tragically lost their lives in the line of duty this past July.
Later in the week, Attorney General Lynch will participate in a Town Hall on diversity in law enforcement hosted by Howard University. This discussion is part of the Engaging College Students in 21st Century Law Enforcement Project that resulted from a grant provided by the DOJ Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) to explore strategies that encourage recruitment among diverse millennials for law enforcement positions.
On THURSDAY, OCT. 6, Attorney General Lynch and Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates will deliver remarks at the inaugural Attorney General’s Awards for Distinguished Service in Community Policing, along with Director Ronald Davis of the COPS Office. The Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service in Community Policing recognizes individual state, local or tribal sworn police officers and deputies who exemplify remarkable achievements in innovative community policing strategies, criminal investigations, and field operations.
Attorney General Lynch will conclude National Community Policing week in Newark, New Jersey, where she will hold the last in a series of regional Justice Forums on FRIDAY, OCT. 7. In the wake of the recent events, including both the tragic officer-involved deaths of civilians and appalling, premeditated attacks on police officers, the Department of Justice launched a series of convenings—Justice Forums—in cities across the nation to provide a forum for local community leaders, youth advocates, law enforcement, and state and local officials to critically examine police-community issues in their respective cities and regions in order to seek solutions together. Thus far, Attorney General Lynch has hosted a Justice Forum in Detroit, and Deputy Attorney General Yates has hosted a Justice Forum in Denver.
Additionally, Deputy Attorney General Yates will hold a Justice Forum in Atlanta on MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, to commence National Community Policing Week. Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Civil Rights Division, and Director Paul Monteiro of the Community Relations Service (CRS) will join Deputy Attorney General Yates at the Atlanta Justice Forum. Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason of the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) will also attend the Newark Justice Forum, along with Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gupta and Director Davis of the COPS Office.
For more information on National Community Policing Week or the Attorney General’s Community Policing Tour, please visit https://www.justice.gov/ag/community-policing-tour.
21st CENTURY COMMUNITY POLICING YOUTH FORUM ON FACEBOOK LIVE
WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
U.S. Attorney John R. Parker of the Northern District of Texas
Jason Witten of the Dallas Cowboys
Barry Church of the Dallas Cowboys
WHEN: MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016
2:30 p.m. CDT
WHERE: Sunset High School
2120 W. Jefferson Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75208
OPEN PRESS (Media Gather: 1:30 p.m. CDT // Final Access: 2:00 p.m. CDT)
NOTE: Please RSVP to press@usdoj.gov by Sunday, Oct. 2, at 8:00 p.m. CDT. Media inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to press@usdoj.gov and Rebecca.L.Stewart@usdoj.gov.
NATIONAL NIGHT OUT EVENT WITH THE DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT
WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
U.S. Attorney John R. Parker of the Northern District of Texas
Mayor of Dallas Mike Rawlings
Director Ronald Davis of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
WHEN: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2016
5:30 p.m. CDT
WHERE: University of North Texas at Dallas
7300 University Hills Boulevard
Dallas, TX 75241
OPEN PRESS
NOTE: Following the Attorney General’s remarks at National Night Out, Attorney General Lynch will participate in a media availability. Media interested in attending National Night Out and the media availability should RSVP to press@usdoj.gov by Monday, Oct. 3, at 5:00 p.m. CDT. Media inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to press@usdoj.gov and Rebecca.L.Stewart@usdoj.gov.
DIVERSITY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT TOWN HALL WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY
WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2016
3:30 p.m. EDT
WHERE: Howard University
Armour J. Blackburn University Center
2397 Sixth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20059
OPEN PRESS (Media Access: 2:30 p.m. EDT // Final Access: 3:15 p.m. EDT)
INAUGURAL ATTORNEY GENERAL’S AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED SERVICE IN COMMUNITY POLICING CEREMONY
WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates
Director Ronald Davis of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
WHEN: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2016
2:00 p.m. EDT
WHERE: U.S. Department of Justice
Great Hall
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
OPEN PRESS (Media Access: 1:00 p.m. EDT // Final Access: 1:45 p.m. EDT)
LIVESTREAMED AT WWW.JUSTICE.GOV/LIVE-STREAM.
REGIONAL JUSTICE FORUM IN NEWARK
WHO: Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman of the District of New Jersey
Assistant Attorney General Karol Mason of the Office of Justice Programs
Head of the Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta
Director Ronald Davis of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
WHEN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2016
10:30 a.m. EDT
WHERE: Newark Public Library
5 Washington Street
Newark, NJ 07102
OPEN PRESS (Media Access: 9:30 a.m.EDT //Final Access 10:10 a.m. EDT)
NOTE: Additional details for each event will be issued as they become available. Media inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to press@usdoj.gov and Rebecca.L.Stewart@usdoj.gov.
Additionally, the event information for Deputy Attorney General Yates National Community Policing Week events can be found below:
REGIONAL JUSTICE FORUM IN ATLANTA
WHO: Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates
Head of the of the Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta
Director Paul Monteiro of the Community Relations Service
U.S. Attorney John A. Horn of the Northern District of Georgia
WHEN: MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2016
10:30 a.m. EDT
WHERE: National Center for Civil and Human Rights
100 Ivan Allen Jr Boulevard NW
Atlanta, GA 30313
OPEN PRESS AT THE TOP (Media Gather: 9:45 a.m. EDT // Final Access: 10:15 a.m. EDT)
NOTE: All media must present government-issued photo I.D. (such as a driver’s license) as well as valid media credentials. Space is limited and not guaranteed. Press inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to Robert Page at Robert.page@usdoj.gov.
EVENT ANNOUNCING A NEW INTERAGENCY REPORT ON ADVANCING DIVERSITY IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
WHO: Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Jenny R. Yang
WHEN: WEDNESDAY, OCT. 5, 2016
9:30 a.m. EDT
WHERE: U.S. Department of Justice
7th Floor Press Conference Room
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530
OPEN PRESS (Media Access: 8:45 a.m. EDT // Final Access: 9:15 a.m. EDT)
NOTE: Press inquiries regarding logistics should be directed to the Office of Public Affairs at press@usdoj.gov or 202-514-2007.
Updated October 3, 2016
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