More than 100 unarmed intervention workers in Los Angeles, whose jobs involve preventing gang-related violence and responding to other conflicts as an alternative to policing, will get trauma training and support in the coming months under a new city initiative.
Project TURN, or Therapeutic Unarmed Response for Neighborhoods, will provide counseling and training to workers in these high-stress jobs – many of whom may internalize the trauma they witness – so they feel better supported and equipped to do their jobs.
The $2.2 million effort, funded by the city, is being championed by L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who chairs the city council’s Public Safety Committee.
The idea for the program grew out of a meeting between the Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners and the council’s Public Safety Committee more than a year ago in which they discussed how to add resources to enhance public safety.
Rodriguez, along with the city’s Office of Gang Reduction and Youth Development, unveiled the initiative on Monday, Feb. 13, even as the first of four groups of workers began their new training.
Community intervention workers engage with communities where they’re assigned and often learn about potential problems and work to de-escalate tense situations and prevent violent incidents from occurring.
Rodriguez said in a statement, “Community-based public safety workers are regularly exposed to high trauma environments and providing comprehensive training and support is an important tenet of how our city will deliver transformative change and strengthen our public safety response and create more equitable investment in a community-based public safety model.”
During a Monday news conference, Rodriguez noted that police officers receive counseling or other professional support to help them deal with trauma after an officer-involved shooting. And community intervention workers who witness traumatic events while on the job should get similar support,…
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