The Benedict College Criminal Justice Program to Hold a Press Conference to Announce a New Justice Reform Program

Who: Benedict College Criminal Justice Program
Columbia SC Branch Chapter NAACP Chapter
Richland County Sheriffs’ Department
City of Columbia Police Department

What: Press Conference to Announce a New Justice Reform Program

When: Monday, November 15, 2021

Time:  11:30 a.m.

Where:  Antisdel Chapel on the campus of Benedict College  (*masks are required)

Speakers:  Retired First Sargent, Walter Shawn McDaniels
Ms. Ovetta Glover, President of the Columbia Branch NAACP
Sheriff Leon Lott, Richland County Sheriff’s Department
Chief Skip Holbrook , Columbia Police Department

Invited Guests:   Members of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department Members of the Columbia Police Department Members of the NAACP Members of the 100 Black Men

The partnership:  The Columbia SC Branch served as the facilitators to bring together a multi-disciplined group of professionals that consisted of academic researchers, faith-based leaders, law enforcement training specialists, mental health experts, social workers and non-profit organizations. The  organization is called the Communal Race Relations Training Selection Committee (C.R.R.T.S.) The NAACP Columbia Branch helped with creating a safe space for these professional leaders to move away from their individual silos and engage in the difficult, but important, conversations relating to the presence of racial indifference, implicit bias, transparency, and the need for measurable race-related training within law enforcement. Members of the CRRTS include: Cpt. Dominique Pagano, Chief Skip Holbrook, Dep. Melron Kelly, Cpt. JP Williams,  (Columbia Police Dept); Dr. Judith McCay (Conflict Resolution expert and teacher); Charmaine Primus (Social Worker); Jasmine Phan (Conflict Resolution practitioner); Bishop Eric Freeman (Faith-based leader); Eric DeVan (of the 100 Black Men); Valerie Reese (Child Psychologist);  Eric Rosdail, (Community leader, SLED); NAACP Facilitators, including Nancy Rhoads (Chair of Legal Redress Committee) and Walter Shawn McDaniels (Chair,  Criminal Justice Committee for the NAACP, doctoral candidate, Benedict College Associate Professor). Over the past 11 months, CRRTS identified the instances of racial indifference and implicit bias within the practice of policing, and then agreed upon a training strategy to remedy the presence of each. This strategy includes scenario-based role-playing within law enforcement and measuring the effectiveness of all training. With the help of community volunteers, both the Columbia Police Department and Richland County Sheriffs’ Department have agreed to use the scenario-based role-playing to address racial indifference

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Kymm Hunter, Assistant Vice President for Communications and Marketing
803.705.4519 or Kymm.Hunter@Benedict.edu

Gail Glover, Director of Communications 803.269.2438 or  TBA