Violence prevention partners awarded grant to expand safety messaging
Title image: CU Boulder's Prevention Science Program provided Safe2Tell shirts to students at Fall Welcome.
The CU Boulder Police Department and the university’s Prevention Science Program will continue to expand their efforts to prevent violence in Colorado, using a U.S. Department of Justice grant to partner on strategic messaging for hate crimes prevention and bystander reporting across much of the CU system.
The grant award was announced earlier this month.
The hate-based violence prevention campaign will begin in the coming weeks with posts similar to these on account. Click the images to enlarge.
“I am thrilled that we have been awarded a from the Bureau of Justice Assistance, said Sarah Goodrum, a research professor in the at CU Boulder. “We're now able to expand our efforts to message information on strategies for violence prevention and bystander reporting to address bias-motivated crimes on campuses in the CU system, including CU Boulder, CU Denver and UCCS.”
Research suggests official statistics underestimate the number of hate crimes in the U.S., due to underreporting. Bystanders’ awareness of the problem and the culture of the community can influence whether people report bias-motivated incidents. The new grant will support the testing of messages on how to prevent hate crimes and report safety-related concerns in the community.
Goodrum says students, faculty and staff will benefit from the new campaign to be produced by researchers, campus leaders, law enforcement officers and marketing consultants. It can also be used as a model for other universities around the country.
Goodrum was also involved in the messaging campaign to increase awareness and usage of Safe2Tell at CU Boulder. Safe2Tell is a statewide program developed after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting and managed through the Colorado Office of the Attorney General. It encourages “upstanders” to come forward with information on potential violence or self-harm to prevent it from occurring.
“The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado has a long-standing commitment both to investigating and prosecuting hate crimes and to engaging with the community on this topic,” said Acting United States Attorney for the District of Colorado Matt Kirsch in the grant announcement. “Public education on the tools available to prevent and address hate crimes is fundamental to these efforts, and we are proud to work with the University of Colorado.”
A strong and highly experienced multidisciplinary team made up of researchers, law enforcement officers and communications experts will use the $1,999,939, four-year grant to develop hate crimes prevention messaging through 2028.