In an interview on the public-radio program "The Takeaway" this morning, Jon Wool, director of Vera's office in New Orleans, talked about bridging the gap between the New Orleans Police Department and the community.

"It’s going to take quite a long period of time to make progress in healing these relationships," Wool said. "I think the most hopeful sign right now is that the new mayoral administration and the new superintendent of police are not understating the scope of the problem. And I think most importantly, perhaps, they are recognizing that the burden for beginning the healing is on them, not on the community....They are meeting that burden to this point and it’s only been two and half months since the new mayor took over—and a little less for the superintendent. But they are taking positive steps to reinvent themselves."

When asked whether cities need a transformation of strategies, Wool said, "That’s essentially what Vera is trying to do—not just with the police department, but with all of the criminal justice actors. There are many ways that cities can maintain public safety without the heavy-handed types of enforcement and the high reliance on enforcement—and not just police enforcement, but the incarceration that follows it. There are many ways cities have developed to get the job done, but get it done in a way that’s respectful, that doesn’t use all of the might of government in every case, particularly low-level cases. And there are many, many cases in New Orleans; it’s a very enforcement-heavy system. So what's most hopeful, I think, is the department’s willingness to work with us."

Listen to the interview with Jon Wool and community organizer Robert Goodman on "The Takeaway," a program supported by The New York Times, the BBC World Service, WNYC, Public Radio International, and WGBH Boston: