Justice & Opportunity
Campaign Corner: J&O House Parties, Survey, Training on Tap
Published February 17, 2016
The Justice and Opportunity (J&O) table continues to gain momentum in the new year. On January 26, we kicked off our first Community Talk. Modeled after the Obama House Parties of 2008, we are coordinating a series of small gatherings to offer a space to folks from the community to share their concerns about their neighborhood safety and policing. These talks will focus loosely on community and police relations, in an effort to move toward policing reform that works in the best interest of the neighborhoods served by the Buffalo Police Department. The first House Party was a powerful experience for all involved.
In addition to the House Parties, the J&O table is launching a survey to measure community-police relations in March and April. We’ll be having a surveyor training/kickoff event on February 23 from 6pm-8pm at the headquarters of 1199 SEIU (2421 Main Street, Suite 100). Please RSVP to Elisabeth (info below).
Finally, The Open Buffalo staff are excited to be traveling to San Diego this month for the Open Places Initiative’s All-Sites Convening. The workshops and strategy sessions this year will be focused on community policing and data/access to information. Staff will have the opportunity to brainstorm and strategize with experts and the other Open Places sites currently working on policing reform.
If you are interested in learning more about the community talks, survey or J&O table, please contact Elisabeth at elisabeth@openbuffalo.org.