The Reimagining Public Safety Collaborative invites the community to share their input on plans to transform public safety in the City of Ithaca and Tompkins County through the newly launched www.publicsafetyreimagined.org website. The launch of the community engagement website follows several months of planning and implementation work carried out by the Collaborative and the passage of plans at both the City and County level earlier this year.
The first plans open for input on the website are:
- Implement an unarmed response unit in the City of Ithaca
- Develop a community healing plan to address trauma in the relationship between residents and law enforcement for Ithaca & Tompkins County.
As each plan is opened for input on the website, the Collaborative will make a community announcement.
Under each plan, the Collaborative is seeking the community’s ideas and input on ideas shared by others. For a detailed video on how to use the website, create an account, and provide your input visit the ‘How it Works’ page on the website.
The www.publicsafetyreimagined.org website, in conjunction with additional ongoing community engagement activities and public forums will be used to gather input on all Reimagining plans passed by the City and County. For a comprehensive list of all plans passed by the City of Ithaca Common Council and Tompkins County Legislature, please review the resolutions linked on the website.
This website is also a convenient tool for news and updates on the process for the public, and project management for staff and volunteers of the Collaborative. Community members can subscribe for email updates on any plan, idea, or all news items to stay up-to-date on the Collaborative’s progress.
In addition to visiting the site on any device, community members are reminded that all Tompkins County libraries have internet access and library staff can assist you in browsing the site and sharing your input.
Several virtual sessions will be held for community members to learn more about the site and learn how to share their input. In these sessions City and County staff will be available to offer support on how to use the website, and input ideas directly on behalf of community members. In-person sessions will be planned in the future. Register in advance through zoom:
- Friday September 24, 4:00-6:00pm (join any time)
- Tuesday October 26, 4:30-6:30pm (join any time)
City of Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick stated, “This is our chance to rethink how we police our communities, who responds to crises, and how we treat one another when someone is in need. We have a balanced and meaningful set of plans that grassroots community members, communities of color, officers, experts, and your elected officials all constructed and agreed to together.” Myrick continued, “Together, we can use tools like this website, our public forums, and the conversations we have with one another to make clear the future we’d like to see.”
Dr. Tracie Keesee, SVP of Social Justice Initiatives and Co-Founder of the Center for Policing Equity stated, “This tool is designed to bring community perspective to the forefront of the conversations on how to reimagine policing and public safety in Ithaca & Tompkins County. There are more than 20 plans that will be live on this website over the course of implementation, and we’re seeking the community’s perspective on each one of them.”
Lisa Holmes, Interim Tompkins County Administrator stated, “The more active community input we have, the more sustainably and thoughtfully our plans can be implemented. These plans will help make our community safer and our systems more just and equitable - we need your ideas on how to best make that happen. Thank you to all of the community members who submit their ideas and respond to others’ ideas through this website.”
###