Advisory Committee for Policing and Communities of Color Presents at Board of Supervisors Meeting

At the Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting held on Monday, May 16, 2022, Charima Young, Assistant Vice President for Local Government and Community Relations at Penn State, along with Dr. SeriaShia J. Chatters, Adjunct Associate Teaching Professor (CNED) & Director of Equity and Inclusivity of State College Area School District, led a presentation on behalf of the Advisory Committee for Policing and Communities of Color to the Board of Supervisors.

The presentation was focused on the committee's 2021 Taskforce Report and the recommendations for the future of the committee. Ferguson Township Police, along with the Bellefonte Borough Police, Spring Township Police, University Park Police, and State College Borough Police serve as advisory members on the committee. Non-public safety organizations that serve are Penn State Univsersity Staff and Faculty, Penn State Students, and Community Representatives. President Barron of Penn State initiated the creation of the taskforce, originally only containing the State College Borough Police and University Park Police.

The next steps for the commitee are as follows:

• Share report with the local community to generate discussion and invite feedback
• Respond to community calls for transparency by “presenting” the report at local council meetings and other key stakeholder groups
• Continue and expand the Task Force to work and support local policing agencies in realizing the success of the recommendations
• Continue the dialogue with local, statewide, and national groups (including PA legislative representatives) regarding cross-collaborative efforts focused on police reform

The report also stated that the committee will be seeking an external consultant to examine, "the perception of community relations among communites of color, a better understanding of the working relationship between local police and agencies, case processing, and a racial/ethnic disparity analysis."

Dr. SeriaShia J. Chatters, during the Board of Supervisors Regular Meeting, stated,

"One of the purposes of that recommendation (hiring an external consultant) is because... we looked at the percentage of community members of color versus the percentage of individuals who were being arrested... and it showed a disparity, meaning that although there were small percentages of community members of color in (Centre Region townships), there was a higher percentage of those community members that were being arrested and/or there was a use of force."

The Committee is seeking these qualifications for the external consultant:

Another major recommendation from the Advisory Committee is "diversifying the workforce" of all different policing agencies. Cluster hiring is recommended to increase diversity to "matriculate through the police training as well as enter the force together... creating a cohort of individuals they can rely on," per Dr. Chatters.

Increasing "data consistency and training" is another area emphasized by the task force, as different types of data are collected from each local police agency, and working to increase consistency across the region will help facilitate better communication and cooperation among the local departments. 

Trainings for officers relating to crisis intervention and continuous specialized training, such as working with community members with mental health issues, disabilities, and also the LGBTQ+ community would help build stronger relationships between the officers and these communities. Emphasis on the trainings being consistent and not "one-off trainings" was also of importance for the report.

Charima Young noted that the goal is to "send out an RFP this month or next month to recommended organizations to begin vetting candidates" for the external consultant position to help with these initiatives and research desired by the committee.

At Ms. Young's close, Chair Dininni urged the Advisory Committee to keep the Board of Supervisors and Ferguson Township staff involved in continued updates from the committee.

The full presentation can be found linked below.