B-CU Center for Law & Social Justice Leads Delegation of Florida Law Enforcement Representatives and Community Stakeholders on Visit to Nationally Recognized Gun Violence Reduction Program

Front row, left to right: John Alexander (Gainesville Police Department), Rhonda Boyd (Jacksonville community stakeholder), Garland Scott (Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office/faith leader), Rebecca Gaytko (Dayton Police Department), Mark McGuire (Jacksonville faith leader), Back row, left to right: Rod Love (Orange County stakeholder), Randy Nelson (B-CU CLSJ), Randy Sewell (Jacksonville faith leader), Alfred Williams (Orlando Police Department), Kenneth Moss (Dayton faith leader), Jose Velez (Orlando Police Department), not pictured Andrew Wade (Orlando Police Department).

The Bethune-Cookman University Center for Law & Social Justice (CLSJ) led a delegation of Florida law enforcement professionals and community stakeholders representing the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, Gainesville Police Department, and Orlando Police Department on a trip to Dayton, Ohio  on March 1 – 3, to visit a nationally recognized gun violence reduction program and a highly regarded police and clergy partnership program. The purpose of the trip was to provide the Florida delegation ideas and strategies to assist with the effective engagement and leveraging of community resources to improve public safety.   The Dayton Police Department and Potter’s House International Church hosted the delegation with interactive presentations provided by local law enforcement, faith, social service, and community leaders, as well as a federal judge. 

As law enforcement agencies and communities throughout Florida and nationally continue to fight against senseless violent crimes, the need to strengthen the relationship between law enforcement and the communities they serve has never been greater.  To this end, the Center for Law & Social Justice, which is housed in the College of Liberal Arts has garnered a regional and national reputation for providing cutting-edge law enforcement community engagement training and developing the next generation of law enforcement professionals.   Since its creation in 2015, the CLSJ has trained more than 800 law enforcement professionals and 200 community stakeholders from across Florida and hosted annual law enforcement recruitment events on the campuses of B-CU and Florida A & M University.  Recent B-CU Criminal Justice graduates have been hired by law enforcement agencies from Florida to Minnesota, including federal agencies.