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Methods
Vera's international work ranges from developing and running organizations abroad to convening informal roundtable discussions at Vera's offices in New York City. In every case, Vera works closely with local reformers, nongovernmental organizations, and government partners to share ideas, experiences, and strategies.
Convening Workshops and Seminars
On a regular basis, Vera gathers groups of practitioners and researchers from several countries to discuss topics of mutual interest. Since 2001, Vera has co-hosted four international conferences on public security and democratic policing. These meetings have focused on the use of citizen surveys for more effective policing, crime-mapping technology, civilian oversight of the police, and public-private partnerships for police reform. A separate series of smaller research seminars has brought together leading researchers in policing from around the world. In November 2002, in Santiago, Chile, police researchers focused on developing a guide to assess the nature of relations between the public and police with an eye to advancing reform. In June 2003, in Moscow, Russia, a meeting focused on comparing internal police performance measurements in different countries. The third meeting in the series was held in New Delhi, India, in November 2003, and focused on community policing research questions and methods.
Organizing Visiting Committees
Vera organizes committees of researchers and practitioners to visit particular cities or states in order to support ongoing reforms. A visiting committee's strength lies in its ability to engage an agency in a broader examination of its own operations by surrounding its leaders with international peers. Vera used this model in 2001 by sending a small group of experts in criminal justice technologies and reform to study prolonged pretrial detention and prison overcrowding in Haiti. Their task was to review earlier reports and studies and propose a short-term and a medium-term plan of action. The trip, part of a partnership with the United Nations Development Program in Haiti and the Open Society Institute, brought together a Canadian expert in correctional technology, a French human rights expert, a Haitian law professor, and Vera staff.
Building a Body of Comparative Research
To build a body of comparative research on the administration of justice in democratic societies, the International Programs Department sponsors research by Vera staff as well as by scholars in other institutions. Vera has commissioned papers on private police forces in New York, Johannesburg, and Mexico City. Vera has also joined with a Russian human rights organization and local police to survey residents of St. Petersburg about their encounters with police officers. The results of this survey were compared to those of a similar survey conducted by Vera researchers in Queens, New York.
Demonstrating Solutions in Other Countries
Vera's International Programs Department establishes demonstration projects outside the United States that are similar to those conducted domestically. Before planning a demonstration, Vera builds relationships with local reformers. Sometimes Vera assists in researching an issue of pressing concern to them. In Chile, for example, law reformers invited Vera to observe the country's reform of its criminal justice system. A Vera staff member spent the better part of one year on site, attending court cases and interviewing people from all aspects of the Chilean criminal justice system. Based on this fieldwork, Vera assembled a visiting committee for the Ministerio Público (Office of the National Prosecutor) to conduct training in victim services. Vera is currently working with the Ministerio Público to assess the agency's performance under the new criminal procedural system.
Operating international demonstration projects has many benefits: not only do they help improve the effectiveness of government and develop the professional skills of local lawyers, social scientists, and practitioners abroad, but they also help broaden and enrich Vera's domestic agenda and comparative capabilities.
[ last modified 11/7/2003 8:32:26 AM ]
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