Taking a page from Midtown Community Court's playbook.
Last wee, Bronx Community Solutions met with court and community
stakeholders to discuss concerns regarding the policing of the trans community
in the Bronx Fordham area. The meeting was organized by Judge Poust-Lopez, the
Bronx HTI Court judge and was attended by representatives from Bronx
Defenders, Legal Aid, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office, Anti-Violence
Project (AVP), Monroe College, Congressman Serrano’s office, NYPD’s 52nd Precinct, and Councilman Ritchie
Torres’ office.
Judge Lopez convened these stakeholders as a way to address
a particular ‘condition’ in the neighborhood a strategy she learned from her
time at Midtown Community Court, participating in monthly conditions
meetings.
The meeting provided an
opportunity for officers and community representatives to share concerns of
safety issues in the neighborhood, while Legal Aid, Bronx Defenders, AVP and
BCS discussed reports from clients of unfair targeting for prostitution arrests
and experiences of transphobic behavior during arrests. The meeting laid a
foundation for continued collaborative efforts from all parties to fairly
address concerns from both sides. In the following meeting, we hope to include
additional representatives from the Bronx LGBT community in order to plan
street outreach and preventative measures to improve issues in the neighborhood
as an alternative to relying solely on policing
A special thanks to Charlotte
Webber, our dedicated Safety & Empowerment social worker for nudging the
judge and making this meeting happen.
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