In a conference room in Newark, police officers and community members sat in a semicircle talking about their trauma, both personal and collective. They talked about their common experiences growing up in poverty, and their perceptions of each other. And after decades of distrust, they talked about moving on. 

Trauma To Trust is a program run by a privately-funded Brooklyn-based nonprofit, Equal Justice USA, and for the last several years it has brought community members--activists from anti-violence groups, youth volunteers, social workers, and others–-together with city police officers. Given tensions between law enforcement and residents of heavily-policed areas like Newark, the program seeks to help officers and those they police communicate about the various forms of violence they’ve both experienced. 

In an era of viral videos of police killings and political discord over "defund the police" chants, cities across the country are experimenting with such mediated reconciliation conversations.

In Newark, the relationship between police and community members is deeply damaged. Since 2016, Newark Police have been watched over by a federal monitor due to years of police officers exerting excessive force, stealing property, and disproportionately stopping and arresting Black people. Trauma To Trust training isn’t mandated by the federal monitor, but the city is trying to have all officers go through it. More than 300 have so far, about a third of the department--as a “vehicle for building trust with the community,” according to Newark Public Safety Director Brian O’Hara.

Led by an Equal Justice USA facilitator, the conversations included startling admissions (“I hate cops”) and deep dives into systemic racism, implicit bias, intergenerational trauma, and mass incarceration. In the end, the group went over techniques for healing. And there were hugs. 

Gothamist/WNYC spent part of two day-long sessions listening in on the Trauma To Trust program to get a sense of the ways that tension between law enforcement and civilians, seemingly ever growing in this country, could be eased. To hear the stories shared, and the bonds forged, listen to the radio report on WNYC.