As controversial shootings of unarmed citizens continue and concerns about crime and public safety continue to escalate, the need for honest, productive discussions on policing, race and public safety becomes even more urgent. To help promote such conversations, National Issues Forum has extended the opportunity to download the Safety and Justice issue guide for free. There is also an editable version for those who would like to tailor the guide for a particular locality, as well as Spanish-language materials. Please help NIFI promote these valuable community conversations by sharing this information with anyone you think may be interested in holding forums. “I am asking each of you to consider offering a forum to a group with whom you have contact and who you feel is interested in this issue--your church, a book club, a class you are teaching, a civic organization to which you belong,” says Bill Muse, NIFI President Emeritus. “You can make a significant contribution to spreading awareness of public deliberation and to helping to find a solution to this significant public issue.”

If you do hold forums, please list them on the NIFI Events calendar, and send post-forum participant questionnaires to forumreports@nifi.org. Kettering Foundation will be publishing a report on these forums for policymakers at the end of the year, so having your forum’s date and location, as well as post-forum participant questionnaires, will help them in analyzing these deliberations. NIFI will also, of course, be sharing the report out to the network, so you can see how your forums fit into the larger national conversation on this important issue.

If you have any questions about how to get started holding forums, feel free to shoot NIFI’s Etana Jacobi an email and she’ll be happy to help connect with any support NIFI can offer.