The curtain will rise on March 1 for Act Two of John Jay College’s year-long initiative “Bridging the Divide: Re-imagining Police-Community Relations,” with a panel discussion on Gender, Sexuality and Policing.

The spring semester will provide a busy and fulfilling schedule of events as part of the series initiated by President Jeremy Travis to bring together various stakeholders for a constructive public discourse on best practices for improving relations between law enforcement and the people it serves.

Following the semester-opening panel, the series will include a frank one-on-one interview with New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton on March 7. The discussion will be recorded in front of a live audience for future broadcast, and conducted by Randy Cohen, former New York Times columnist and host of the public radio program “Person Place Thing.”

That interview will be followed by a panel discussion on the policing of religious groups, a “youth and policing” panel with John Jay students and faculty, and a book talk featuring Arthur Browne, editorial page editor of the New York Daily News and author of One Righteous Man: Samuel Battle and the Shattering of the Color Line in New York.

The series concludes on Friday, May 6, with a “Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Bridging the Divide.” In a day of panels, forums and other discussions, John Jay students and faculty, law enforcement officials, elected officials, media representatives and leaders of nonprofit organizations and advocacy groups will explore a broad range of topics relating to justice and policing. The day-long dialogue will include such topics as understanding community initiatives; best practices for engaging vulnerable youth; policing of mentally ill and homeless populations, and the role of faith-based organizations in bridging the gap, among other themes.

Click here for complete details on the spring semester’s “Bridging the Divide” events.