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Policing Project at NYU Law Announces Nicholas Turner of Vera Institute as Chairman of Advisory Board

Nonprofit’s Board Membership Gathers Experienced Leaders from Key Policy and Advocacy Organizations to Guide Critical Reforms and Partnerships

NEW YORK⁠, June 23, 2021⁠—The Policing Project at New York University School of Law today announced Nicholas Turner, president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice, will serve as the new Chair of its Advisory Board. Turner replaces outgoing chairs Vanita Gupta, former president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, as she assumes the role of United States Associate Attorney General, and J. Scott Thomson, Chief (ret.) of the Camden County Police Department, who generously remains on the Board.

Joining Turner on the Advisory Board are several new members, including leaders from many of the country’s most prominent nonprofit, civil rights and public service institutions:

  • Debo P. Adegbile, Partner and Anti-Discrimination Practice Chair, WilmerHale and Commissioner, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

  • Deborah Archer, President, ACLU and Professor of Clinical Law and Co-Faculty Director of the Center on Race, Inequality and the Law at New York University School of Law

  • Jane Castor, Mayor, Tampa, Fla. and Chief (ret.), Tampa Police Department

  • Fred Humphries, Corporate Vice President, U.S. Government Affairs, Microsoft

  • Loretta Lynch, Partner, Paul Weiss and former U.S. Attorney General

  • Sheena Meade, Managing Director, Clean Slate Initiative

  • Kathleen O’Toole, Chief (ret.), Seattle Police Department and Commissioner (ret.), Boston Police Department

  • Sam Sinyangwe, Co-Founder, Campaign Zero

  • Michael D. Tubbs, Special Adviser for Economic Mobility and Opportunity for California Governor Gavin Newsom and former Mayor of Stockton, Calif.

“Our new Advisory Board members join us at a critical time for both our organization and policing in our nation, broadly,” said Barry Friedman, Policing Project founder and Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law at NYU Law. “Our Advisory Board represents some of the most impassioned and experienced civil rights attorneys, community-based advocates, technology experts and pioneering reformers. Their guidance will only strengthen our efforts to center the public’s voice in policing, particularly voices from Black communities and all communities of color.”

 “I have proudly served as a member of the Policing Project’s Advisory Board since its formation and am eager to expand this work as its new Board Chair,” said Nicholas Turner, president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice. “My work at Vera is driven by a vision to ensure safe, healthy, empowered communities and a fair, accountable justice system—a core value that is shared by the Policing Project and my colleagues on the Advisory Board. I look forward to our collaboration as we expand this critical movement.”

The Policing Project also extends its gratitude to its returning Advisory Board members who have served since the Board’s formation in 2018 and whose experience, knowledge and leadership helped to expand and advance the Policing Project’s mission. Returning to the Policing Project Advisory Board are:

  • Art Acevedo, Chief, Miami Police Department and President, Major Cities Chiefs Association

  • Arif Alikhan, Co-founder of TacLogix Inc. and former Director, Los Angeles Police Department Office of Constitutional Policing and Policy

  • Jennifer Carnig, Chief Advocacy Officer, Spitfire Strategies

  • Ralph Clark, President and CEO, ShotSpotter Inc.

  • Jerry Clayton, Sheriff, Washtenaw County, Michigan

  • Scott Crouch, Founder and CEO, Mark 43

  • Lawrence Epstein, Chief Operating Officer, Ultimate Fighting Championship

  • Hal Hess, former Executive Vice President and Chairman, Latin America and Europe, Middle East and Africa, American Tower

  • Matthew Johnson, Partner, Ziffren Brittenham LLP and former President, Los Angeles Police Commission

  • Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Legal Editor, Slate Magazine

  • Marcellus McRae, Partner, Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP

  • Clark Neily, Senior Vice President for Legal Studies, Cato Institute

  • Danielle Outlaw, Commissioner, Philadelphia Police Department

  • William Ruger, Vice President of Research and Policy, Charles Koch Institute

  • Sean Smoot, Managing Principal, 21CP Solutions and Director, Police Benevolent and Protective Association of Illinois and the Police Benevolent Labor Committee

  • J. Scott Thomson, Chief Operating Officer, Holtec Security International and Chief (ret.), Camden County Police Department

  • Nina Vinik, Director of Gun Violence Prevention and Justice Reform, Joyce Foundation

  • Harlan Yu, Executive Director, Upturn

In addition to Gupta, departing from the Advisory Board are Maya Harris and Dana Remus, who assume new roles in the Biden-Harris administration, and Ronald Davis and Chris Magnus, who are nominated for new federal roles. The Police Project extends its gratitude for their service and leadership.

The Advisory Board will give advice and support to the Policing Project leadership team as the organization works to center community vision in reimagining public safety. Since its founding in 2015, the Policing Project has successfully completed a range of research, advisory and on-the-ground projects that have resulted in real change to policing in communities across the nation, including:

  • Drafting a revised use of force policy on behalf of the Camden County Police Department that was praised by civil rights advocates as a pioneering model of reimagined public safety.

  • Analyzing a longstanding policing strategy in Nashville—the use of traffic stops to address crime—through a first-of-its-kind cost-benefit study that resulted in a stark decrease in the use of this harmful and racially disparate practice.

  • Launching the Chicago Neighborhood Policing Initiative, in partnership with the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability (GAPA), the Chicago Mayor’s office and the Chicago Police Department, to bring a new model of policing to Chicago neighborhoods that improves trust between communities and police.

  • Influencing the design of artificial intelligence policing technologies to respond to concerns about civil rights and civil liberties.

The full membership of the Policing Project Advisory Board can be viewed at policingproject.org/advisory-board.

About the Policing Project

The Policing Project at New York University School of Law is a vital innovator and connector, partnering with communities, policymakers, the police and even the makers of policing technologies to bring democratic accountability to policing so that it better matches American ideals and community needs.

Founded in 2015, the Policing Project focuses on front-end, or democratic, accountability — ensuring the public has a voice in setting transparent, ethical, and effective policing policies and practices before the police or government act. Our work aims to achieve public safety in a manner that is equitable, non-discriminatory and respectful of public values.

For more information on the Policing Project, visit policingproject.org.

Media Contact: Press@PolicingProject.org, (212) 992-6950