Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships Program in Erie, Pennsylvania: Case Study
In April 2018, the Community Relations Service (CRS) delivered the Strengthening Police and Community Partnerships (SPCP) facilitated dialogue program in Erie, Pennsylvania. The goals of the SPCP program are to engage local law enforcement and community leaders in dialogue to identify issues and solve problems collaboratively, increase local capacity, develop partnerships, and develop local solutions to local problems. The program is also designed to help local leaders address longstanding community distrust and other historical barriers that hinder police-community partnerships and to improve trust and develop partnerships between law enforcement officers and the diverse communities they serve. Approximately 80 diverse leaders participated in the Erie SPCP program, representing local youth, refugees, faith groups, law enforcement, social services groups, business and community groups,andcivilrightsorganizations.Duringtheprogram,participantsidentifiedissuesimpacting police-community relations and then developed solutions to address each issue. Each stakeholder group selected representatives to participate in the Erie SPCP Council, which was tasked with implementing the solutions. The Erie SPCP Council has met once a month since April 2018. In May 2021, CRS conducted a case study to identify the impacts and outcomes of the Erie SPCP program and Erie SPCP Council on police-community relations. In addition, the case study measuredthecollaborationsamongEriecityofficials,thepolicedepartment,andcommunity leaders.Theseoutcomesandimpactswereidentifiedbyanalyzingdatacollectedfromonline surveys and during interviews.
Author: CRS
Federal Sponsor Agency: Community Relations Service
Publication Date: February 2022
Publication Type: PDF