Full Notification

Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry L. Clayton is announcing  one critical addition to our organization and three new opportunities for Washtenaw County community members to be engaged, informed, and involved in our efforts to continually evolve and be better as an organization and community.

1. 21^st Century Policing Compliance Initiative and Commission: In December 2014, President Barack Obama signed an executive order establishing the Task Force on 21^st Century Policing. The President charged the group with identifying best practices and recommendations on how policing practices can effectively reduce crime while building public trust. In the report, the Task Force provided recommendations, each with action items organized around six main topic areas, or “pillars“ of reform.  
   
   WCSO has previously used the recommendations for local police agencies as our blueprint guiding many of our policy, training, and operational decisions and actions. Our intent moving forward is to formally commit to fully implementing all of the recommendations for local public safety agencies, convene a compliance commission, and provide public status reports.
   
   The 21st Century Policing Compliance Commission is a community-based, collaborative effort including community members and leaders, non-profit stakeholders, community mental health and public health partners, faith leaders, education leaders, as well as Sheriff's Office staff. The objective of this new Commission is to work collaboratively with WCSO in an effort to achieve full compliance with all of the local police agency recommendations in President Obama's 21st Century Policing Task Force. 
   
   The Commission will work with WCSO to evaluate, provide input and feedback on outcomes related to WCSO policies, training, hiring, and internal and external practices to bring WCSO to full compliance in each of the six pillars identified by the Task Force:

• Building Trust and Legitimacy
• Policy and Oversight
• Technology and Social Media
• Community Policing and Crime Reduction
• Training and Education
• Officer Wellness and Safety

2. Police Reform Academy (PRA): In partnership with Washtenaw My Brother’s Keeper (WMBK), WCSO will co-facilitate a multi-week immersive learning series that aims to deconstruct the most pressing topics of police reform (Training, Use of Force, Hiring, Promotions, Discipline, Leadership, Culture, Policy, Engagement, Unions, and Current Reform Efforts) in order to implement effective change strategies. These sessions are not intended as a mechanism to push any one particular reform idea, but instead are solely focused on sharing knowledge related to current policing structures. Whether you believe the police should be defunded, deconstructed, abolished, or reformed doesn’t matter for participation within PRA – you are very welcome to participate. What matters is that you are committed to learning in order to best facilitate the change you’d like to see.
   
   Participation will be open to all, but class size will be limited to 30 individuals in each cohort. The number of cohorts will be defined by the number of individuals interested in participation. Cohorts may be run concurrently or one section at a time. It is important to point out that the first two cohort groups (black men and elected officials) and the participants within those groups have been specifically chosen as part of the larger PRA construct. Information from those two cohorts will be integrated into all future cohort sessions.
   
   If you are interested in participating or have questions regarding the PRA please contact WCSO Director of CE, Derrick Jackson at [email protected] or WMBK Project Specialist, Jamall Bufford at [email protected]. If you would like to sign up for participation in the PRA you can do so here: https://link.washtenawsheriff.org/21st_century

3. WCSO Hiring Committee: The most valuable and impactful resource in every organization are the people. Recruitment, selection, and hiring are among the most important activities related to creating a desirable organizational culture. Currently, the WCSO has a rigorous and forward-thinking criminal justice organization hiring process. However, in our attempt to always be better, in alignment with one of our Core Strategies “Building Partnerships & Collaboration,” and as part of our ongoing endeavor to co-produce public safety with the community we serve, Sheriff Clayton is adding community members to the selection processes for new employees.  
   
   We are looking for a diverse group of Washtenaw County residents, representing a cross section of Washtenaw County communities, interested in serving as a panelist for new hire candidate interviews. Those selected will need to complete a short application, pass an abbreviated background check and successfully complete our Interviewer Training Session. The application is available at https://link.washtenawsheriff.org/21st_century.

4. Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: The Director of DEI will be responsible for providing leadership and helping transform the Sheriff’s Office into a more inclusive and diverse organization. The mission of WCSO is to create public safety, provide quality service, and build strong and sustainable communities; this executive-level position furthers the WCSO mission and supports our values through a lens of diversity, inclusivity, and equity for all. The new role will work with WCSO administration, division leadership and command, frontline staff, community partners and stakeholders to provide leadership and guidance in development of key organizational policies, training curricula, hiring and promotional processes, and internal procedures. In collaboration with WCSO leadership and staff, they will develop a strategy to move WCSO towards becoming a more diverse, inclusive, and equitable organization. We anticipate beginning our search for the right candidate for this critical position in summer 2020.