We are inventing positive, non-punitive ways to create safety and accountability.
Until communities are able to contribute to the training of all officers and safety practitioners, deeper systemic change is impossible. What’s more, young people should be empowered to take part in this oversight work. Raising Justice’s Training and Education initiative develops programs that provide community informed training to officers and resource toolkits to activate young people across the country.
Public Safety Training
YIP Training Curriculum (History)
In the winter of 2020, Raising Justice launched our training curriculum with the Portland Police Bureau. Instead of working with PPB’s adult trainers, we brought in youth to serve as facilitators. Over the next six months, we facilitated a hybrid training that used in-person and video lectures to inform over 1000 officers and command staff of youth-police relations and the developmental state of youth. This innovative approach was the first community intervention training program for Police Bureau.
Expansion (Future)
Raising Justice is evaluating our initial training in Portland to fine tune the approach for expansion to other cities. Our goal is to inform and reform police bureaus across the country, working towards a future where youth-led community-based training and oversight are integral to how officers interface with all communities.
Research
To ensure efficacy in our training, Raising Justice has partnered with George Fox University and is overseeing and evaluating each our further developments in each city. After our work in other target cities, Raising Justice plans to share the successes and challenges of our curriculum to better inform future efforts and research related to community-based policing.