Violence Reduction Through Cross-Cultural Leadership Development

Less than a decade ago, Los Angeles residents living in Watts’ housing developments were unlikely to interact with police in a positive way and rarely ventured outside of their homes due to the lack of safety. In 2011, a unique and historic collaboration of unlikely allies—law enforcement, the housing authority, and Watts residents—formed the Community Safety Partnership in an effort to improve community relations and safety. The breakout session will discuss how an experiment to transform a violence-ridden community became a sustainable and widely successful program that uplifts community voices in a racially-tense neighborhood.