New Haven, CT, and Norfolk, VA – Today, the Center for Policing Equity (CPE) and Norfolk Police Department (NPD) announced a partnership to reduce, with the goal to eliminate, racially disparate policing and produce public safety worthy of community trust.
With Chief Boone and Mayor Alexander, Ph.D., making the bold decision to engage in this important work, this is the first step of what both organizations hope will be a long term, multi-year partnership leading to NPD’s inaugural enrollment in CPE’s COMPSTAT for Justice program, a multi-pronged, science-driven program to improve policing outcomes.
As part of this partnership, CPE will examine a wide variety of data provided by NPD and share its analyses with NPD, along with general recommendations on how NPD can improve its policing to decrease racial disparities and inequities. These findings will be made public to the Norfolk community, and community members will be invited to engage throughout the partnership to share their experiences with the department.
“This partnership is a testament to the Norfolk Police Department’s commitment to reduce harm and build lasting systems that best serve the Norfolk community,” said Tracie L. Keesee, Senior Vice President of Justice Initiatives and Co-Founder of CPE. “With these first steps and looking towards a long-term relationship with CPE, the NPD and Chief Boone have gratefully acknowledged the need to center community in the necessary work of reimagining public safety for the Norfolk community, and we look forward to supporting them to develop this lasting change.”
NPD’s long-term commitment to reimagining public safety will make it the first department to enroll in COMPSTAT for Justice, which uses real, data-informed strategies to allow departments to achieve effective changes to policing policies and practices.
CPE will collect qualitative and quantitative data from NPD to get a well-rounded picture of the department’s practices. Police department data is combined with feedback from community and political stakeholders, a policy review, and other data to develop recommendations for NPD to create lasting change.