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| National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice | |
|---|---|
| Name | National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice |
| Formation | 2015 |
| Type | Initiative |
| Headquarters | United States |
| Leader title | Director |
National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice The National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice was established to address police-community relations in the United States through multi-sector collaboration among civic leaders, law enforcement, philanthropy, and academic institutions. It convened stakeholders from municipalities, civil rights organizations, legal associations, and public health networks to develop policy recommendations, training curricula, and research agendas aimed at reducing conflict and improving procedural legitimacy.
The Initiative was launched amid high-profile incidents and national debates involving Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Freddie Gray, and the resulting mobilizations by Black Lives Matter and allied coalitions. Its genesis drew on models from the Department of Justice collaborative policing efforts, lessons from the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and precedents in community-police partnership projects in cities like Ferguson, Missouri, Baltimore, Maryland, St. Louis, Missouri, and New York City. Founding partners included major philanthropic actors such as the MacArthur Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Ephraim McDowell Health Center (as a local example), alongside academic collaborators from institutions like Harvard Kennedy School, Johns Hopkins University, and Yale Law School.
The Initiative articulated goals aligned with recommendations from the President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, emphasizing procedural justice, transparency, and accountability. Core principles referenced frameworks from the Constitutional Rights Foundation, standards evoked in rulings such as Terry v. Ohio and Graham v. Connor, and community-engagement methods used by groups like ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and National Urban League. It also integrated approaches from public health partnerships modeled by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention collaborations, restorative practices promoted by Howard Zehr and Tony Marshall, and evidence-based policing research from scholars associated with George Mason University and Rutgers University.
The Initiative organized governance around advisory councils, steering committees, and working groups composed of representatives from municipal police chiefs (including members of the International Association of Chiefs of Police), civil rights leaders from American Civil Liberties Union, scholars from Stanford Law School and University of Chicago, and philanthropic representatives from Carnegie Corporation and Open Society Foundations. Operational oversight involved partnerships with nonprofit intermediaries akin to Justice Policy Institute and research centers such as Urban Institute and RAND Corporation. Governance protocols referenced models used by commissions like the 9/11 Commission and oversight bodies similar to Civilian Complaint Review Board structures in New York City.
Major programs included development of training curricula for procedural justice inspired by work at Arizona State University, pilot projects implementing crisis intervention models aligned with Crisis Intervention Team programs, and participatory budgeting experiments influenced by initiatives in Portland, Oregon and Chicago, Illinois. Other initiatives comprised data-sharing partnerships echoing the aims of The National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, community safety audits modeled after Community Oriented Policing Services practices, and public convenings similar to forums organized by National Conference of State Legislatures and United States Conference of Mayors. The Initiative also promoted model policies related to use-of-force consistent with recommendations from National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement and research disseminated by Brennan Center for Justice.
Funding streams relied on philanthropic grants from foundations such as the MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and support from institutional partners including National League of Cities, National Governors Association, and university research offices at Princeton University and Columbia University. Strategic partnerships involved nonprofits like Policing Project at NYU School of Law, advocacy groups such as Campaign Zero, and municipal agencies in Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Collaborative funding mechanisms paralleled efforts pursued by consortia like Everytown for Gun Safety and public–private partnerships seen in Health Resources and Services Administration initiatives.
Evaluations drew on methodologies from Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse, and program-evaluation practice at Mathematica Policy Research and RAND Corporation. Reported outcomes included implementation of revised de-escalation training in participating departments, adoption of body-worn camera policies inspired by research from University of Cambridge and Arizona State University, and establishment of civilian review mechanisms modeled after San Francisco Police Commission. Impact assessments cited changes in complaint rates in jurisdictions such as Ferguson, Missouri and Cleveland, Ohio and informed state-level legislative reforms paralleling bills debated in the United States Congress and state legislatures including California State Legislature and New York State Assembly.
Critics cited tensions similar to debates surrounding Consent Decrees issued by the Department of Justice and argued that voluntary collaborative initiatives risked co-optation by law enforcement or insufficient enforcement, echoing critiques leveled at police reform efforts after events in Baltimore, Maryland and Chicago, Illinois. Civil liberties organizations such as American Civil Liberties Union and grassroots groups tied to Dream Defenders and local chapters of Black Lives Matter raised concerns about accountability, data transparency, and the influence of major donors like Open Society Foundations and corporate partners similar to those in controversies involving G4S contracts. Scholarly critiques referenced work by researchers at Harvard Kennedy School and University of California, Berkeley debating evidence for procedural justice training efficacy and sustainability of reforms without statutory mandates.
Category:Nonprofit organizations based in the United States