Community Relations

The goal of this TTA is to provide the Raleigh Police Department with direct access to a subject matter expert to assist with enhancement of their strategic communications during a crisis with the goal to improve community relations and reduce violent crime.

The goal of this TTA is to provide the Gary Police Department with direct access to a subject matter expert to assist with enhancement of their public information office with the goal to improve community relations and reduce violent crime.

Upon receiving approval by BJA program officials, IIR staff-initiated planning efforts for a fieldwide webinar slated to occur in the next reporting period, including:
• A virtual forum on January 23, 2025, for all grantee sites focusing on effective crisis management strategies for hate crimes and community emergencies

The goal of this TTA is to provide the Gary Police Department with direct access to a subject matter expert to assist with enhancement of their public information office with the goal to improve community relations and reduce violent crime.

Program staff published and/or disseminated several resources for educational, informational, and promotional purposes relating to hate crimes and the program. For example, the website promotional flyer and the resource Understanding Hate Incidents and Hate Crimes were distributed to attendees of the Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents Roundtable at the 2024 International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Conference in Boston, Massachusetts.

During this reporting period, the Hate Crimes TTA Program team continued to identify lessons learned and relevant resources and collected information from the field for dissemination to the program sites during regular project check-in calls, through the issuance of special bulletins, and through invitations to virtual webinars and training opportunities. The Hate Crimes TTA Program disseminated special bulletins regarding the following items:
• July 11, 2024—Matthew Shepard James Byrd Solicitation Deadline Extended!

IIR program staff members continued conducting research and gathering content for inclusion in the Hate Crimes TTA Program newsletter, “Preventing Hate and Keeping You Up to Date.” During this reporting period, four newsletters were disseminated. IIR staff members publish the newsletter—which contains resources including national news and trends, research studies and reports, publications, training opportunities, and other useful tools to help support the efforts of awarded project sites and the broader field—using a LISTSERV tool that provides statistical data for reporting metrics.

Title: Exploring the Value of Deflection in Reducing Crime, Preventing Overdose, and Building Trust: A Roundtable Discussion

What are the purpose and goal(s) of the event?
• Discuss the metrics by which police leaders measure program success of deflection programs to include reductions in crime, police contacts, and overdoses, as well as administrative and cost factors.
• Discuss community narratives around crime, safety, and public health in communities with deflection programs

In response to an inquiry by the Los Angeles PD, program staff provided the site project team TA regarding polling options for use during virtual presentations, including a demonstration of types of polling questions and response capabilities.

During this reporting period, in close collaboration with BJA, IIR staff coordinated and facilitated a Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents Roundtable Discussion on October 21, 2024, at the IACP
Conference in Boston. This event brought together senior law enforcement executives from across the nation to address pressing issues related to hate crimes. Participants identified several key challenges, including underreporting, confusion over hate crime definitions, mental health support, data collection and analysis gaps, information sharing and collaboration, and resource constraints.