A historic office of the Ministry of Justice created in the 1960s during the civil rights movement was marked for the closing by the Trump administration, which raises fears of a loss of generations of work and working to prevent disorders in the major cities of the country.
A service note from the Ministry of Internal Justice examined by CBS News said that the appointments of Trump’s nominees plan to close the community relations service, which was created within the framework of the 1964 civil rights law. The office mission is to be “the American peacemaker”, responsible for “preventing and resolving racial and ethnic tensions”, conflicts and civil disturbances. Restoration of racial stability and harmony ”.
The Community Relations Service NO NEW NO NO Pursues crimes and has no law enforcement authority, and according to the Ministry of Justice, its services are both confidential and free for the communities that accept or request them. In 2021, the agency said about its mission that it sought to help realize that the “inspiring dream of Martin Luther King Jr. of a dynamic and embracing nation unified in justice, peace and reconciliation”.
The office has a history of intervention during periods of increased national disorders. He was recognized for helping to warn another riot in 1993, when racial tensions re -approcheted after the second police trial which beat Rodney King in California.
It also worked to ease rising racial tensions after the 1997 Fatal Police Shooting of A Chinese-American Man in Rohnert Park, California, in Akron, Ohio in 2022 after the Shooting of A Black Man by Police and Deploying Twice to Minneapolis During The Tronk Chauvin George Floyd In 2020 in Minnesota.
The former leaders of the Community Relations Service fear that the closing the office will be able to increase the disputes between the police or the city leaders and the country’s minority communities.
“We would find and stop brushes fires, before becoming forest fires,” said Ron Wakabayashi, former regional director of community relations department. Wakabayashi told CBS News that it feared that the nation is more at risk of disorders, boycott and prosecution without the agency’s community relations service being deployed regionally through the nation.
The low profile approach to the community service means that it has remained less known even among the leaders of the federal government, although this was a vital asset for the Ministry of Justice, according to some who led the office. Employees of community relations services intervened with church leaders, community leaders, parents of victims of violence and city administrators to challenge the troubles, prosecution or boycott.
President John F. Kennedy designed the office in the early 1960s, saying that the federal government should have experts who can “identify tensions before reaching the crisis stage” and “work quietly to facilitate tensions and improve relations in any threatened or torn community with conflicts”.
The adoption of hatred crimes on the murders of Matthew Shepard and James byrd Jr. in the late 1990s, said that the jurisdiction of the office “extended to gender, sex, religion, protected classes of people,” Wakabayashi said.
He said that experienced employees of the Community Relations Service would develop relations over the years in major cities, with leaders of people of worship, police and activists to gain credibility and better compete to mediate.
According to Wakabayasi, at some point, the office employed 600 professional employees, in particular mediators and experts in community awareness, in regional offices in Philadelphia, Dallas, Seattle, Detroit, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Boston.
The Memo of the Ministry of Justice examined by CBS News indicates that some of the current employees of community relations services would be reassigned to the offices of federal prosecutors on a national scale. Former staff members say that the type of reorganization could paralyze the federal government’s ability to prevent racial conflicts in American cities, as community activists may be less willing to work with so-called craftsmen who can be perceived as aligned on prosecutors’ offices.
Bert Brandenberg, a 30 -year -old veteran of the Community Relations Service, and the former officials of the Ministry of Justice questioned the plans to close the office: “During the eras of the flambé of racial tension – would it not be logical to have people in the communities while they arise … so that they do not lead to boycotts, disputes or troubles?”
“The prevention of violence works better when the communities consider conciliators as honest brokers with whom they can open in the context of work through conflicts, which is distinct from the critical work of prosecutors who held responsible criminals,” Brandenberg told CBS News.
The Ministry of Justice did not respond to a request for comments.
In a speech in July 2024, Justin Lock, former director of the Community Relations Service, praised the achievements of the office. Lock said the office was “at the intersection of some of the most critical moments in our country’s trip to justice”.
“In 2020, When Americans Marche in Solidarity With the People of Brunswick, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, Following the Deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, CRS Engaged with Communities as an Impartial, Confidential Facilitator, Helping Stakeholders Identify and Implement Solutions that help Communities to heal and Move Forward, “Locke dit.
Representative Raja Krishnamoorthhi, Democrat of Illinois, in a statement to CBS News praised the work of the office to defuse tensions between minority communities and the government and expressed concerned about the reports that it would be reduced. “At a time when hate crimes and community tensions are increasing, reducing the support of this essential office would be a serious mistake,” he said. “I urge the Doj to reaffirm its commitment to strengthen confidence and bring greater security to all our communities.”
Scott MacFarlane
