Clean Slate Initiative, Managing Director, Sheena Meade Joins Group of Pioneering Reformers and Advocates as Advisor to the Policing Project at NYU Law
The Policing Project’s Advisory Board 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 Sheena Meade, Managing Director at the Clean Slate Initiative, will join its new Advisory Board, bringing her extensive experience and leadership in policing reform to guide the nonprofit’s work in advocating for transparency, equity and meaningful community engagement in policing.
The Policing Project’s Advisory Board, chaired by Nicholas Turner, president, and director of the Vera Institute of Justice, brings together leaders from many of the country’s most prominent nonprofit, civil rights, and public service institutions, whose extensive experience and passion will help guide the Policing Project’s strategic decision-making.
“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.”
Joining the Policing Project Advisory Board are:
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.
Additionally, several Advisory Board members who have served since the Board’s formation in 2018 are continuing their work guiding the advancement of 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
The Advisory Board will give advice and support to the Policing Project leadership team as the organization helps center community vision in reimaging 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—meaning the public has a voice in setting transparent, ethical, and effective policing policies and practices before the police or government act.
For more information on the Policing Project, visit policingproject.org.