(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . ‘A chance to be heard’: Civilian-police mediation program offers conflict resolution [1] ['Josie Abugov', 'More Josie Abugov', 'Verite News'] Date: 2024-04-11 Da’Michael Baker raised his voice at the police officer seated across from him at the table, rehashing a recent interaction between the two on a recent night on Frenchmen Street. Baker himself had been the one who had called the police in the first place, he explained. A single dad taking care of his 14-year-old daughter, Baker had called the police because he wanted protection from a group of drunk guys bothering the father-daughter duo. But the responding officer ended up tailing Baker instead, an interaction that left him feeling endangered. “It was disrespectful,” he shouted. The officer, Martha Young, responded, giving her side of the story. On that night, Baker ran from the officer and drove off in his car. Young said she had a duty to follow him and investigate. This was supposed to ensure that his daughter was safe, she added. “When we get to a scene, we don’t know who called,” Young said. Two men sat between Baker and Young, their faces expressionless. Another woman scribbled notes in the corner of the room. Baker, it turns out, isn’t a single dad, and Young never chased after him that night on Frenchmen. Baker is actually a sophomore at the University of New Orleans training to become a mediator through a program run by the New Orleans Office of the Independent Police Monitor. His conversation with Young, a New Orleans Police Department officer in real life, during a training last month was a role-play session meant to help mediators in training learn how to navigate tense conversations. Since the program’s founding in 2014, the civilian oversight agency has mediated hundreds of cases between New Orleans community members and the NOPD as part of an effort to increase trust between police and city residents. Last month, the program welcomed 15 new mediators who finished a 50-hour training on conflict resolution. OIPM’s mediation program came into existence two years after NOPD entered a federal consent decree in 2012, which included a requirement that the department participate in a community-based restorative justice project. Residents who have filed complaints about eligible police interactions have the option to choose the mediation process or the traditional investigation process conducted by the NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau. Unlike a formal police investigation, the mediation process allows a civilian and officer to speak face-to-face over a two-hour long conversation facilitated by two trained mediators. There is no prescribed outcome of the mediation, said Jules Griff, the director of the mediation program. “A lot of times people file a complaint, and they don’t actually want the officer to be disciplined, per se, they’re just maybe frustrated or upset about what happened and confused and they want an answer. And that’s not always what you’re gonna get from investigation,” she said. “It’s a chance for the people who were impacted and who are involved to actually take accountability, to have a chance to be heard,” Griff said. Only some cases can be mediated. After a civilian makes a complaint against an officer, NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau determines whether the case is eligible for the mediation process or whether it will go through the formal investigation process. For instance, criminal allegations such as unreasonable use of force or unlawful search are not eligible for mediation, while complaints alleging that officers are unprofessional, uncourteous or neglecting duty often make their way to the mediation table. As of August 2023, residents can also choose to go through the mediation process after the disciplinary investigation, if the public integrity bureau rules the case as “unfounded,” “exonerated” or “not sustained.” Both the civilian and the officer must opt in for the mediation process to move forward. Officers usually agree to participate, Griff said, and it’s more common for community members to refuse. If either party refuses, the complaint will be re-routed to the traditional PIB investigation. The reasons a civilian might reject a mediation are wide-ranging, according to Griff: they might not want to speak to someone who disrespected them, they may fear retaliation from an officer within their community, they may prefer a formal investigation, or they may just be too busy. But for the 30 to 40 annual mediations that do occur each year, the vast majority of officers and civilians end up reporting that the process built mutual respect. Tracee Ford (center left), a trainer with Community Mediation Maryland, gives a presents at a training for mediators through the Office of the Independent Police Monitor at the NORD Sanchez Multi-Service Center on March 20, 2024 while Martha Young (center right) with the New Orleans Police Department watches. Credit: Minh Ha / Verite News There is no such thing as a typical mediation session, said Griff, but many of the cases involve issues of communication and respect. One session that Griff recalled involved a complainant who was deaf and had learning disabilities. The conversation led to a powerful discussion about a lack of resources within NOPD to effectively communicate with community members with certain disabilities, Griff said. Another case involved a couple selling perfume at a gas station who were reprimanded for not carrying their permits. The situation upset the couple, Griff said, because of a previous time when the two had urgently needed police assistance, but no one from NOPD came. “Why are you coming for us when there’s so much else going on?” Griff remembered the couple asking. While the majority of community members and officers report a positive mediation experience, peace and love are not required during or after the process. Community members don’t have to be polite — they can yell or refuse a handshake. During the practice mediations at the training, many of the soon-to-be mediators embodied this spirit, standing up, pointing at the officer, and rolling their eyes. Nicholas Gernon, who heads the professional standards and accountability bureau at the NOPD, participated in a mediation training and has had employees sit down for mediation sessions. He said the program can help community members who may feel voiceless within an overwhelming legal system understand the rules and processes law enforcement must follow. He noted the simplicity of the program: giving people the opportunity to be heard. Young, the NOPD officer who acted in the mock mediation with Baker, said she found the overall training experience to be eye-opening. “We both came into this, the same incident, but we had different stuff going on,” she said of the mock mediation with Baker. “So what he had going on, I did not know. And the information I had, he did not know.” “I think a lot of times we’re misunderstood as police and citizens are misunderstood, when they are dealing with probably the most difficult times in their life,” she said. The mediation program also aims to reflect the demographics of the city in terms of race, age, class and other identities. During every session, program leaders try to ensure that there is at least one mediator who matches the race and gender of the participants. “We want it to be a genuine space where people come and communicate the way that they know how, and the mediators are there to support that,” Griff said. Neutrality is central to the mediation process. According to post-mediation reports from officers and civilians, 100% of respondents found the mediation process to be unbiased. For mediators, not showing bias means asking open-ended questions and “reflecting back” the statements of the participants without affirming their viewpoints. It also comes down to body language – sitting equidistant from the officer and civilians, refraining from nodding when someone’s talking. Gahiji Barrow, a mediator in the program who first trained with Griff in 2015, said that shutting down his personal opinions is essential to the job. “I’m someone that doesn’t believe in the system and the authority of the police, but I still do this work,” he said. “And I do it with neutrality.” Barrow decided to volunteer after doing informal conflict resolution for family and friends. He also found it to be useful in the context of his job at the time, a nonprofit focused on voting rights for incarcerated people. Now, he volunteers as a mediator through the OIPM but also mediates outside the program for nonprofits and businesses. For Baker, the youngest of the new mediators, learning a new model of how to address conflict was a welcome change in an often-polarized society. “Living in a society where division is what we run with, here’s that small number of people who are coming together,” Baker said. “Growing up here I didn’t see a lot of that.” Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/04/11/civilian-police-mediation-program-nopd/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/