Federal grants to support UIC-led community policing programs

The Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago has received two new federal grants to lead training in community policing and procedural justice.

The two-year grants, issued by the U.S. Department of Justice’s office of community-oriented policing services, total over $540,000 and are intended to improve police practices and improve relations between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

The grants are:

• Cultural Humility in Diverse Communities: Increasing Capacity for Engagement and Problem Solving will develop and provide diversity and inclusion training for local law enforcement. The program will include instructor-led training and trust-building gatherings between law enforcement and “hard-to-reach” communities in large group dialogues.
• Invitational Procedural Justice Training will expand existing procedural justice initiatives sponsored by the Justice Department that includes training for law enforcement and the public. UIC’s Center for Public Safety and Justice will broaden the reach to more communities and provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies to translate training into practice.

Additionally, the center is a partner on several new Justice Department grants to Illinois municipalities and agencies:

The City of Park Ridge was awarded a one-year, $50,000 grant to develop a community policing strategy by establishing a citizen advisory board. The center will help the Park Ridge Police Department build on previous staff training to further incorporate procedural justice principles.

The Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority granted funds to the City of Peoria and the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning for nine-month projects that will team the Center for Public Safety and Justice with UIC’s Great Cities Institute. In Peoria, the center will assess department data, strategies and services to develop a comprehensive plan to alleviate violent crime. The Rockford project aims to reduce group‐related violent crime in the area through strengthened governmental collaboration and increased trust between law enforcement and residents.

The Center for Public Safety and Justice, founded in 1997 by the Department of Justice to support community policing and problem-solving techniques, is based in the UIC College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs. The center offers training, technical assistance and research, and it maintains partnerships with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other government agencies.