FIU brings police and teenagers together to discuss differences, promote understanding

Media Contact:
Madeline Baró
305-310-9665
mbaro@fiu.edu
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MEDIA ADVISORY
FIU brings police and teenagers together to discuss differences, promote understanding
WHAT: FIU’s College of Architecture +  The Arts has teamed up with the Miami-Dade Police Department to coordinate a series of dialogues between high school students and new police recruits, aimed at de-escalating tensions and promoting positive relationships between officers and the teens, some of whom have had negative experiences with police.

FIU Communication Arts Professor Antoine Hardy, who drew from his own experience in North Carolina where he and many of his peers grew up with a distrust of police, created the program to promote trust and respect. The dialogues allow teens to voice their opinions, ask questions, and gain a better understanding of police perspectives and also provide the newly-minted officers insight into the perspectives of the young people in the neighborhoods where they will work.

The dialogues involve four “phases,” or meetings. The meetings cover cultural diversity, establishing common ground, and police involvement in the community, among other topics. Hardy and his students facilitate the discussions and during the sessions students and officers propose solutions.

On Tuesday, June 7, 2016 police and students at Richmond Perrine Optimist Academy will participate in their fourth and final dialogue. The dialogue will feature students’ reactions on current events involving protests against police and other community issues involving police nationwide. Students and police also will discuss police tactics and practices in their neighborhoods.

For video of a dialogue at Richmond Perrine Optimist Academy, please click here.

WHO: The dialogue will feature:

• A group of 16 Richmond Perrine Optimist Academy students
• Officers from the Miami-Dade Police Department South District
• FIU Communication Arts Professor Antoine Hardy
• FIU Communication Arts students
• Richmond Perrine Optimist Academy Principal Lance Williams

WHEN: Tuesday, June 7, 2016 at 10 a.m.

WHERE: Main Office at Richmond Perrine Optimist Academy, 18055 Homestead Ave, Miami, FL 33157

-FIU-

About FIU:
Florida International University is classified by Carnegie as a R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity and recognized as a Carnegie engaged university. It is a public research university with colleges and schools that offers 196 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs in fields such as engineering, computer science, international relations, architecture, law and medicine. As one of South Florida’s anchor institutions, FIU contributes almost $9 billion each year to the local economy. FIU is Worlds Ahead in finding solutions to the most challenging problems of our time. FIU emphasizes research as a major component of its mission. FIU has awarded more than 220,000 degrees and enrolls more than 54,000 students in two campuses and three centers including FIU Downtown on Brickell, FIU@I-75, and the Miami Beach Urban Studios. FIU’s Medina Aquarius Program houses the Aquarius Reef Base, a unique underwater research facility in the Florida Keys. FIU also supports artistic and cultural engagement through its three museums: Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the Wolfsonian-FIU, and the Jewish Museum of Florida-FIU. FIU is a member of Conference USA and more than 400 student-athletes participating in 18 sports. For more information about FIU, visit http://www.fiu.edu/.