Law Enforcement

When Peace Officer is in the Name, the Dynamic Changes

December 27, 2019 by Lisa Broderick

Reconsider Podcast: What’s In a Name? Would a Cop By Any Other Not Protect as Well? Police2Peace - Protecting The Peace In Our Communities.

In this podcast, I spoke with hosts Xander and Erik to try to unpack the tensions surrounding police and our communities. First, just because it’s a really big issue doesn’t mean that nothing can be done about it. But the complexities of the issue extend not just to what we see in the media, but to entire communities who feel underserved. They’re unhappy with the way they’re being policed. They feel that every time there’s an incident involving the police, the community, the city, or the police department only react afterward. They were hoping that body cams would work, but sometimes that equipment isn’t working. People are hoping to be believed that they are being heard in their expression of ill-ease with how they’re being policed.

Pushing Boundaries: Portland, Oregon’s Red Door Project

November 23, 2019 by Lisa Broderick

In May of this year, an innovative experiment took place at Portland, Oregon’s August Wilson Red Door Theater. Producers Kevin Jones and Lesli Mones, set out to change the racial ecology of Portland through the arts by putting on two plays back to back, one from the perspective of people of color, and the other from the perspective of the police. The play due called “Cop Out” and “Hands Up” was a way for them to forge a path of accountability and healing for people of color and the police. Originally only planning to produce five or six shows, the performances were so popular that they had to extend that and even turn some people away.

PEACE OFFICERS: Can they become the guardians of our society?

September 23, 2019 by Lisa Broderick

Beginning in 2016, a discussion among leaders in the field of policing began to how good officers had become at fighting crime; but still, the country seems at odds with so many incidents covered in the news media all the time. It seems that there is a need for increased trust, safety and cooperation between communities and law enforcement officers which has become critical in nature. Departments of all kinds throughout our country are finding themselves in a defensive position within communities they are sworn to protect and serve. But can instead become the “Guardians” of our society? We think the answer is yes. And the way to do this is for officers and departments to be able to communicate their values and to have that message translated properly so the listener understands what the intention is. So what are those “guardian” values? We think they consist of four things: 1) To prevent conflict; 2) If there is conflict, help resolve it; 3) Diffuse situations, and 4) Aid the defenseless.