The Brighton Police Department and Roberts Wesleyan College are teaming up on research to measure how young Black people in Monroe County feel about police.
The research is led by Joseph Testani, director of Roberts Wesleyan’s Justice and Security Institute, and Herb Alexander, director of diversity and equity at the college. It involves a survey of about 14 questions for students ages 16 to 30 who are enrolled in high schools and community colleges across the county.
“We always haven’t felt heard in certain aspects, and this is a way to start feeling heard," Alexander said. "And once again, doing it in a data-driven way that’s based on research that’ll really help make changes because I really believe that that’s how things will start to move forward.”
The goal of the survey, made possible by a research contract with the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, is to identify what police departments need to do to attract a more diverse recruitment pool and improve relationships with underserved communities.
“The hope would be once we gather this data, that we can use it to advise departments like the Brighton Police Department on areas that they would need to change to improve their perception to make a position more attractive to the Black community,” said Testani.
While the initiative has been in the works for almost a year, Brighton Police Chief David Catholdi said there’s even more need for this research since a Minneaoplis police officer killed George Floyd in May, sparking national civil unrest that he said is akin to the 1960s.
“What we experienced in the '60s, we’re experiencing today in 2020. What have we learned? What have we done? And where are we going?” said Catholdi. “We need to fix these problems.”
Researchers are aiming for a sample size of anywhere from 135 to 500 people.
“This study will hopefully shed some light on the barriers law enforcement agencies face in recruiting people of color and provide us with evidence-based strategies to help us diversify our departments,” said Catholdi.
