A discussion with the Joe Smarro, co-star of the Emmy-nominated movie Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops and panelists, about the film, community policing, and mental health.

Joe Smarro will share his experiences working on the Emmy-nominated movie Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops and expert panelists will address specific questions that would be of interest to communities seeking to retrain their police to do this type of intervention work.

ICMA members can get details and register for the screening here.

Questions can be submitted in advance of the webinar to speakup@icma.org. 

What will be covered:

• The data used. 

• The equity tools used to support equity outcomes and direct back into the community.

• How elected officials support this program. 

• Other departments involved.

• Tips for implemeting a community policing approach in your community and how to approach elected officials.  

Moderator: Pat Martel, ICMA West Coast Regional Director

Panelits:

Joe Smarro, one of the co-stars of the Emmy-nominated movie Ernie & Joe::Crisis Cops, by film director Jenifer McShane.

Karen Falks, deputy chief and Equity Office Liaison, San Antonio Police Department, San Antonio, Texas

Sarah Medary, ICMA-CM, city manager, Eugene, Oregon

Dr. Brian Williams, associate professor of public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at The University of Virginia.

Bios

Joe Smarro

Joe Smarro is a decorated U.S. Marine Corps combat veteran who honorably served two tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. In 2005, he joined the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD), where he became one of the original members of SAPD's Mental Health Unit, which he helped to grow into a nationally recognized best practices policing unit. In addition to being one of the main subjects in the HBO documentary Ernie & Joe: Crisis Cops, Smarro has been featured in multiple media outlets, including the TEDx talk "I See You." He is the founder and CEO of SolutionPoint+, a national training and consulting firm that focuses on cultivating mental wellness to maximize human capital and promote safety within organizatio

Sarah Medary, ICMA-CM, city manager, Eugene, Oregon

Sarah Medary was unanimously appointed City Manager by the Eugene City Council on June 15, 2020. Medary had served as City Manager Pro Tem since October 19, 2019. Medary has 24 years of experience with the City of Eugene, including nine years as Assistant City Manager and six as the director of the Planning and Development Department. She served as the Public Works Director prior to her appointment by Mayor Vinis as City Manager Pro Tem. Medary has a passion for the intersections of people and places and her educational and professional journeys have followed those paths. Her undergraduate work was completed at Colorado State University (Horticulture) and the University of Oregon (Landscape Architecture) and her M.A. of Organizational Leadership was completed at Gonzaga University. The combination of her education and experience in Eugene enable her to lead new approaches to system wide issues the community faces and she’s excited to do that. She has been a voice of equity and inclusion throughout her career and regularly invites new voices to help inform her thinking. When serving as the Assistant City Manager, Sarah was nationally recognized by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and awarded the Assistant Excellence in Leadership Award in Memory of Buford M. Watson. Sarah is a Credentialed Manager through ICMA, a voluntary program that recognizes professional local government managers qualified by a combination of education and experience, adherence to high standards of integrity, and an assessed commitment to lifelong learning and professional development.

Dr. Brian Williams

Brian N. Williams, PhD is an associate professor of public policy in the Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Citizen Perspectives on Community Policing: A Case Study in Athens, GA, is the co-author of the book, Race, Policing & Public Governance: On the Other Side of Now, under contract with Cambridge University Press, and has published in leading journals in public administration, public management, community psychology, education, and police studies. He also serves as the founder and director of the Public Engagement in Governance Looking, Listening and Learning Laboratory (PEGLLLab). As a scholar committed to action research, he examines the interplay between race, policing and public governance. His efforts are devoted to leveraging public engagement in reimagining and redesigning policies and practices that improve police-community relations.