Just how far has police reform come in our community? That’s a main theme of a virtual public discussion hosted by Syracuse university Friday and Saturday. Shukri Mohamed will be heading a panel on school resource officers as part of Policed Bodies: A Community Conversation on Race, Disability, and Justice. (detailed schedule below).
She says the public, including many parents, has a limited understanding when asked why police officers are in schools.
“Who exactly is being protected by police officers in schools? … and the answer we often get is silence. And their idea of the purpose of police officers in schools doesn’t fit with what is put on paper for what SROs and police officers are supposed to be doing in schools.”
Shukri has worked with a local youth Black Lives Matter group and has heard that police in uniform can have a negative impact, especially with the attention on police misconduct trials.
“A lot of the students who come to us and share their stories, they’re traumatized. They’re dealing with seeing police officers on their screens who are doing X, Y-and-Z (police trials). And those same people in the same uniforms are in the schools wither roaming around or sometimes even acting as discipline.”
The Friday panel will include activists and educators discussing alternatives to Police as S-R-O’s. The Policed Bodies conference also includes a session on police reform in the community Friday … and a Saturday panel on community actions around criminal justice.
The keynote speaker is Dr. Monique Morris, author and school on educaiton and social justice, who also produced the documentary PUSHOUT: The criminalization of Black girls in school.
Registration and information for Policed Bodies here.
POLICED BODIES: PANELS AND SPEAKERS
Friday 2:30-4 p.m.: Panel on Policing and Reform Initiatives in Black and Brown Communities
- Moderator: Yusuf S. Abdul-Qadir, lead organizer, Syracuse Police Accountability and Reform Coalition; product policy manager, Facebook
- Brandon D. Anderson, founder of RAHEEM
- Ashley Gantt, organizer, New York Civil Liberties Union
- Talina Jones, chair, New York State Early Intervention Coordinating Council
Friday 4:15-5:45 p.m.: Panel on Policing Bodies in Schools
- Moderator: Shukri Mohamed, senior history and peace and global studies major, LeMoyne College
- Moderator: Sarhia Rahim, senior, Syracuse Academy of Science
- Federico R. Waitoller, associate professor, College of Education, University of Illinois Chicago
- Subini Annamma, associate professor, Graduate School of Education, Stanford University
- Jesse Hagopian, educator and author; organizer, Black Lives Matter at School movement
Saturday 10-11:15 a.m.: Community Conversation on Community Engagement and Action
- Moderator: Yusuf S. Abdul-Qadir, lead organizer, Syracuse Police Accountability and Reform Coalition; product policy manager, Facebook
- Jimmy Oliver, director of community engagement, Syracuse Police Department
- Larry Williams, CEO, Syracuse Community Connections
- Talina Jones, chair, New York State Early Intervention Coordinating Council
- Twiggy Billue, National Action Network Syracuse
- Jessica Elliott, director of programs, Dunbar Association, Inc; doctoral student, Maxwell School
- Yahkeef Davis, data scientist; organizer, Black Lives Matter Syracuse
11:20 a.m.-12:05 p.m.: Breakout Room Conversations
- Participants will be invited to breakout rooms to continue the conversation regarding the future of community policing.
