Community Advisory on Public Safety Commission

This Report follows a community-led, consent-driven, and evidence-based design process in order to make recommendations to improve public safety in Bloomington by amplifying the voices of safety-marginalized residents and conducting root cause analysis and in-depth outreach performed with key community stakeholders.

The CAPS Commission is seeking residents of Bloomington, Indiana to join the Bloomington Community Safety Coalition. The Coalition will meet regularly to discuss the Commission's proposed policies to create alternative solutions to public safety in the city, as laid out in the Alternative Public Safety Report.

The Reparations Committee of the CAPS Commission partnered with the Monroe County History Center to hold "Black Ancestry Day," an event on November 18, 2023, to learn more about best practices for and challenges facing Black ancestry research, featuring keynote speaker and professional Historian and Genealogist Ja'el "YaYa" Gordon, as well as remarks from CAPS Commissioner Kamala Brown-Sparks.

The CAPS Commission applied for a group of undergraduate Indiana University Students at the Kelley School of Business to research housing affordability within the City of Bloomington and develop a plan of action to address the identified issues. This report is a culmination of the Kelley student group's three months of research, interviews, and recommendations.

This document answers the questions that the CAPS Commission has received about the 2023 Alternative Public Safety Report.

In preparation for a report about public safety, the CAPS Commission hosted a town hall event on April 11, 2023, to gather community outreach regarding public safety needs, experiences, and perceptions in the greater community.

This is a response passed on Sept 13, 2023 by the CAPS Commission to the Final Recommendations for Alternatives to Police Response to 911 Calls for Service Report that was published by the Monroe County 911 Review Committee on August 2, 2023.

On Sunday, February 25 at 2 PM, the Community Advisory on Public Safety Commission hosted a panel and community discussion in the Indiana University School of Public Health and online via Zoom featuring local and national experts in community safety: film director Matthew Solomon, Nick Voyles of Bloomington's Indiana Recovery Alliance, Jordan McIntre of Bloomington's New Leaf New Life, Amber Sherman, a Black liberation organizer and podcaster based in Memphis, TN, Max Felker-Kantor, Associate Professor of History at Ball State University and Dr. Jody Armour, Professor of Law at the University of Southern California. This event was co-sponsored by Indiana Recovery Alliance, Care Not Cages, New Leaf New Life, IU American Studies Department, IU School of Public Health, Palestine Solidarity Committee at IU, and Monroe County Women’s Commission.

These materials were distributed at the film screening and the following community panel discussion.

CAPS Resolution 23-01 asks the City of Bloomington Common Council and the Mayor to declare the City a Safe Haven for Transgender Youth in response to state legislation passed in 2023 that bans gender-affirming health care for minors, restricts educational materials with LGBTQ+ themes in municipal schools, and requires parental notification of nomenclature and pronoun change requests from students in municipal schools. The Commission asks the City to adopt a policy or policies consistent with the principles set forth in the resolution. Resolution 23-01, passed 8-0-1, 11/2/2023

CAPS Resolution 22-2 expresses the concern of the Community Advisory on Public Safety Commission over the Supreme Court's recent Dobbs decision and Indiana's Senate Bill 1. The resolution makes recommendations on policies and actions the Commission feels the city should take to help protect reproductive rights & freedom. Resolution 22-2, passed 8/22/2022

In response to past and recent acts of antisemitism and anti-Jewish violence in our community, this Resolution condemns antisemitism and acts of anti-Jewish bigotry as morally reprehensible in themselves as well as serious threats to public safety, and it denounces the antisemitic sentiments that give rise to such acts as false, hateful and antithetical to core American values. Resolution 22-01, passed 3/22/2022

This Resolution condemns Islamophobic speech and other acts of anti-Muslim bigotry as serious threats to public safety, and denounces the Islamophobic sentiments that give rise to such acts as false, hateful and antithetical to core American values. Resolution 21-02, passed 6-0-0, 12/9/2021

This Resolution adopts an Electronic Meetings Policy according to the Indiana legislature’s statute enacted in the wake of the Covid-19 disaster emergency allowing for electronic meetings in certain circumstances. This policy establishes the procedures that apply to electronic participation in meetings by CAPS members, city staff, and the public. Resolution 21-01, passed 6/24/2021

In this statement passed in its April 24 meeting, the CAPS commission opposes the IHRA definition of antisemitism.

In this meeting, the CAPS commission hears from guest speakers on the various definitions of antisemitism.

This CAPS Resolution was passed at a special meeting held on May 1, 2024 in response to the Indiana University administration's decision to use a militarized state police force to violently suppress pro-Palestinian protests held in Dunn Meadow on April 25 and 27, 2024. In this resolution, CAPS denounces the criminalization, administrative punishment, and violent suppression of lawful political dissent; requests that Mayor Kerry Thomson and the Board of Public Safety ensure that no city resources or cooperation will be provided to the Indiana State Police that can be used commit violence or intimidation of protestors at Dunn Meadow; and demands Indiana University immediately cease these activities, hold responsible decision-makers, and reverse punitive actions.