Efforts include hate crime prevention and "know your rights" educational programs
DENVER - The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado has received the 2017 Special Recognition Award from the Colorado Lawyers Committee for the office’s contributions to hate crime and “know your rights" educational programs, Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer announced. The award was presented last Friday, May 5th during the Colorado Lawyers Committee annual awards luncheon. The honor comes as the Department of Justice celebrates Public Service Recognition Week 2017 (which is May 7 through May 13th).
“This award is a great honor to the almost 200 men and women of the U.S. Attorney’s Office," said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “They dedicate themselves every day to community safety, and they tirelessly volunteer on a wide variety of programs that improve safety. Because they know this: Communities are safer when they know their rights and when they understand and trust law enforcement."
According to the Colorado Lawyers Committee, over 30 members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office have volunteered with CLC’s Hate Crimes Education Task Force to reach out to minority communities and educate 800 high school and middle school students at schools with highly diverse populations. This program educates students about the justice system, hate crimes law, and civil rights through participation in mock trials.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office also works closely with the Lawyers Committee Legal Night Team to provide “Know Your Rights" presentations at “legal nights" around Colorado. The Denver Legal Night is the third Tuesday of every month at Mi Casa Resource Center. These presentations cover housing discrimination, employment discrimination, and health care discrimination, among other topics. The U.S. Attorney’s Office coordinated with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of General Counsel; HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, to make these presentations.
In addition to the two Colorado Lawyers Committee programs for which the U.S. Attorney’s Office received this award, almost 100 members of the office participate in other community safety volunteer work, including programs to increase safety at houses of worship of all denominations, to prevent violent extremism, to improve community resilience, to prevent gang involvement, to assist inmates who are returning to communities from prisons, to educate teachers and parents about identifying and reducing radicalization, to engage with diverse community leaders, and to educate the public about hate crimes and civil rights.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
