For anyone unable to join last night’s presentation on Juvenile Justice and SRO’s — you missed an absolutely great program!
Moriah Wiggins, Founding Co-Chair of IMPACT (Improving Multicultural Presence & Advocating for Community Transformation), co-hosted the Zoom meeting with Branch President Dr. LaSella Hall. Presenters included: Leon Smith, Esq., Executive Director, and Joshua Dankoff from Citizens for Juvenile Justice; Matthew Cregor, Staff Attorney, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee; and Ricardo Rosa, Ph.D., Co-chair, New Bedford Coalition to Save Our Schools/. In addition, we were joined by a number of members of the community, including school committee members and School Superintendent Thomas Anderson.
Participants were notified that the meeting was being recorded, and here it is:
Matt Cregor’s presentation included a PowerPoint on changes to Massachusetts Law affecting SROs and on compliance issues by school districts, which are available for download here.
Several studies and publications were mentioned, so here are those links:
- Aggressive Policing and the Mental Health of Young Urban Men
- Changes to SRO programs in Police Accountability bill S.2963
- CFJJ Publications
- New Bedford Public Schools SRO program
Toward the end of the Zoom meeting, invited guest Jeannette Hinkle of the Cape Cod Times mentioned an investigative reporting project by the Times and USA Today which are investigating 4 million traffic stops in the Commonwealth. It is the largest study of its kind in almost twenty years. Community members willing to tell their personal stories about police stops should contact Jeannette Hinkle of the Cape Cod Times via email at jhinkle@capecodonline.com or by phone at 774-405-2896.
