In September 2016, Equal Justice USA launched what is now known as Trauma to Trust, a multi-session training program and approach that brings community members and law enforcement officials together to foster empathy and mutual understanding of trauma through conversations about race, trauma, violence, and social and economic inequity.

We believe that greater understanding between the community and the police combined with trauma-informed police strategies will reduce the violent harm of over-policing and use of force. In addition to breaking down the barriers between these two groups, the trainings also have a goal of developing new policies and creating changes to the system.

Since its inception, Trauma to Trust has gathered hundreds of police officers from the Newark Police Department with a similar number of impacted community members. Many of these community members are actively engaged in violence reduction, have survived harm, or caused it.

The program has garnered significant attention, especially in the media, because of its innovative approach to building community-police relations. It has also helped lead to new progressive department policies around equitable police reporting to create better access to victims’ services as well as how officers work within the LGBTQ community.

Several other cities are interested in launching their own Trauma to Trust trainings in the near future on the strength of the program content and its results.