Mission
The New Orleans Community-Police Mediation Program aims to build understanding and improve relationships between NOPD employees and civilian members of the community. Mediation is an alternative to the Public Integrity Bureau’s traditional complaint investigation process. Mediation provides a process facilitated by two professionally-trained community mediators to create mutual understanding and allow the officer and civilian to be heard and understood in a non-judgmental way. Mediation creates a safe, neutral space for officers and community members to speak for themselves, share about their interaction and how it impacted them, and come to their own agreements and solutions.
Benefits of Mediation
- Chance to be heard and understood.
- A neutral, safe space for community members and police officers to speak to each other.
- Help police and community members understand each other’s perspectives and values.
- Prevents issues from occurring in the future.
- Builds trust and confidence in police services.
- Officers and civilians play an active role in finding a solution.
- Saves time and resources for NOPD by decreasing the number of complaint investigations conducted by PIB and districts
- More satisfaction than investigation process for officers and civilians
- Offers a collaborative accountability process rather than a punitive on
Our Values
The Community-Police Mediation Program Planning Committee—composed of community members, local leaders, NOPD, police associations, and others—developed the framework for the Mediation Program policy. As the program advanced, it adopted the Ten Point Community Mediation Model from Community Mediation Maryland (link to website: https://mdmediation.org/) in line with national standards of community mediation. The New Orleans Community-Police Mediation Program adheres to the following 10 values:
- Train community members who reflect the community’s diversity with regard to age, race, gender, ethnicity, income, and education to serve as community-police mediators;
- Educate community members and police officers about conflict resolution, dialogue, and mediation;
- Provide mediation services at no cost to participants;
- Encourage the early use of mediation to prevent violence and provide mediation at any stage of a conflict;
- Hold mediations in neighborhoods where disputes occur or near the resident’s home or work if they like;
- Schedule mediations at a time and place convenient to the participants;
- Maintain high quality mediators by providing intensive, skills-based training, continuing education, and ongoing evaluation of mediators;
- Work with community members in governing the community mediation program in a manner based on collaborative problem solving among staff, volunteers and community members;
- Provide mediation, education, and other conflict resolution processes to community members who reflect the community’s diversity with regard to age, race, gender, ethnicity, income, education, and geographic location; and
- Mediate community-based disputes that come from referrals from community organizations, NOPD’s Public Integrity Bureau, and community members.
The Mediation Process
Mediation Is:
- A participant-guided process that helps the community member and the officer come to a mutually-agreeable solution. This helps to create understanding and improve relationships.
- A space of discussion without the need to say who is right or wrong. No evidence is needed. The mediators are not judges. The mediators do not present their thoughts on the issue. The role of the mediators is to be neutral 3rd party facilitators. They will not pressure either participant to come to an agreement.
- A voluntary process. Both officers and community members participate at their own free will and can end the process at any time. People are not forced to shake hands or make-up.
- An opportunity for the community member and the officer to be in charge of their own process and outcome. It will not be decided by an outside agency or person. It is outside of any punishment framework or the legal process. There is no appeal because mediation is voluntary.
Eligibility for Mediation
The Public Integrity Bureau of the NOPD determines which complaints are referred to the Mediation Program. The types of complaints that are most often referred are those that allege lack of professionalism, neglect of duty, discourtesy, and biased policing.
Complaints such as unauthorized use of force, unlawful search, and criminal allegations are ineligible for mediation and continue through the complaint investigation process by the PIB. The full mediation policy is found in NOPD’s Operations Manual Chapter 52.3 and can be viewed HERE and outlines case eligibility, deadlines, and process.
The Public Integrity Bureau reviews and classifies all complaints and refers eligible complaints to the OIPM Mediation Program. OIPM staff conducts intake with both the officer and complainant to invite them to mediation, answer questions, and screen for suitability. Mediation suitability considers whether the participant can speak for themselves and represent themselves, whether there is fear of harm or retaliation, and whether the participants can engage in mediation without harming themselves or others.
When & Where do Mediations Take Place?
In accordance with best practices in community mediation, the Mediation Program Director coordinates a mediation date, time, and location based on what would work best for the participants. Mediations are usually scheduled during the officers’ working hours and at a time most convenient to the civilian complainant.
Mediations take place in venues that are convenient, neutral, safe, and in the neighborhood where the civilian lives or works. Many mediations take place within a few blocks of the civilian’s home. Some examples of mediation venues are: public library conference rooms, classrooms in public schools, community non-profit board rooms, the multipurpose room of the Recreation
Department center, and Sunday school rooms in churches. Most mediation sessions take about 60 to 90 minutes to complete, but we allow up to 2 hours for a session and additional time during a second session may be scheduled with the participants if needed.
Who is in the Mediation Room?
The uniformed police officer(s) named in the complaint, the civilian(s) who filed the complaint, two community mediators (we use a co-mediation model), and any support people that the officer and civilian choose to bring are present in the mediation room. Both the officer and civilian are invited to bring a support person with them if they would like to. Officers often choose to bring other officers as support and civilians often choose to bring family members or friends as support.
What Happens During Mediation?
First, the mediators introduce and explain the mediation process. Everyone signs a confidentiality agreement. The mediators ask each participant to share about their experiences during their interaction. The participants listen to each other and the mediators help them better understand what each of them cares about, how they and the
other person might be feeling, what’s important to them, and what, if anything, they want to make a plan about for the future. The participants then can brainstorm solutions and come up with their own agreements about what they want to see happen next or in future interactions.
Mediations often end in an agreement but it isn’t required. The sharing of thoughts and feelings and a better understanding are often enough for some people. Other times, agreements may be an apology or concrete steps to help stop similar issues from happening again.
How Does a Case Get to Mediation?
- Officer and civilian interact.
- Civilian files a complaint of alleged officer misconduct.
- PIB determines if the complaint is eligible for mediation.
- Complaint is referred to the IPM’s Mediation Program.
- Program Director screens case for misclassifications.
- Program Director contacts officer to explain and offer mediation.
- Officer agrees to mediate and signs consent form.
- Program Director contacts the civilian to explain and offer mediation.
- Program Director screens for any threats or fear of retaliation.
- Civilian agrees to mediate and signs consent form.
- Program Director coordinates a time and location for mediation.
- Two mediators selected based on availability and demographics.
- Participants are invited to bring a support person to the mediation.
- Mediation takes place in a neutral community space.
- After mediation, officer, civilian, and mediators complete anonymous surveys.
- Mediators destroy notes to maintain confidentiality.
- Mediators report back that the mediation took place and officer participated in good faith
- Complaint is marked as mediated and is closed.
