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Do Labels Help or Hurt in “Citizen” Participation?

This entry was contributed by John Stephens, on November 8th, 2018 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Community Partnerships, Diversity.

You say SKED-ule, and I say SCHEDJ-ule. Does it matter? Is “Citizen” Participation the same as “public” participation? Here’s an exploration of labels and meanings intended, but may not received as intended.

For community engagement (the title of this blog) how you categorize or label people in a particular participation process is important. Words matter because it can create an impression of inclusion or exclusion. Meanings may vary from “you are a user of a government service” to “you and your neighbors are policymakers.”

Is “citizen participation” open to people who are not “citizens”? Continue Reading

A Snapshot of Police-Community Relations: Denver

This entry was contributed by Kevin Amirehsani, on September 7th, 2017 at 8:40 am and is filed under Advisory Committees, Community Partnerships, Dialogue & Deliberation.

Six board members, two staff members, and a dozen empty chairs were all that greeted public safety director Stephanie O’Malley when she walked into a sleek but soulless conference room in downtown Denver. For a safety department under fire for violent conditions at its main jail and allegedly flouting public records laws, and a civilian oversight agency relatively fresh from being enshrined in the city charter, this was an underwhelming sight.

Yet even in a city regarded as a national leader in holding the police and sheriff’s departments accountable, both the pace of reform and the depth of community engagement are far from consistent.

Trust through Transparency – Law Enforcement Agencies Ask Citizens for Input and Service

This entry was contributed by Brian Bowman, on September 29th, 2015 at 10:06 am and is filed under Advisory Committees, Civic Education, Community Partnerships, Dialogue & Deliberation, Diversity, Outreach Methods, Public Meetings.

The nation is in the middle of a serious, sometimes heated discussion about law enforcement practices and procedures. The last year of news coverage has included disturbing accounts of violence that have left all sides looking for answers.

There are some 18,000 law enforcement agencies in the United States, and some are using local citizen advisory boards to establish and nurture relationships with their communities. There are several examples in North Carolina, including the City of Asheville, the City of Greensboro, the City of Burlington and the newest board in the Town of Knightdale. The Raleigh-area suburb is starting a police advisory board in January.

“Our primary purpose for this is seeking citizen input to make sure our community policing initiatives are addressing real needs and solutions,” said Knightdale Police Chief Lawrence Capps.