The California Violence Prevention Network recently held a timely and important webinar about police reform and racial inequities. Nearly 100 registrants attended. For those of you who joined us, we hope the conversation was valuable to you and that it can help in your community dialogues about these critical topics. For those who were unable to take part in the discussion, we encourage you to watch the webinar video to learn about how some communities are responding to the cries for change.

This special panel discussion focused on how some of our Network communities are working to address the cries to promote healing and reconciliation. In response to the recent crisis and protests, panelists discussed what went well and not so well in their communities. They also describe how they are engaging different sectors of their communities to be part of a dialogue and to examine what policy changes are needed to move their communities forward. All panelists stressed that listening was the key, that changes would be made with the community, not to the community.

Thank you to our panelists for their inspiring, candid, and heartfelt comments on the sensitive topics of police reform and racial inequities. Attached is the video of the webinar in its entirety for your review and use.

Webinar Moderator:

Jack Calhoun, President CalVPN

Webinar Panelists:

Mayor Tom Schwedhelm: City of Santa Rosa
Chief David Honda: City of Watsonville
Mario Maciel: Division Manager San Jose Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force
Ana Lopez: Community Impact Division Officer Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services

Up Coming Webinar

Our next webinar will highlight how communities are providing violence prevention services in this new COVID-World. Even with the shelter in place orders, the needs of our communities are great. How are service providers reaching our youth? What changes have they made to the types of services being provided? How has the economic impact on the local and national levels impacted their work? These are only a few of the critical questions we will be exploring. Please watch for the announcement about this upcoming event.