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Community activists are moving forward on a new project — Asbury Park Community Public Safety Units — with the first Public Safety Unit meeting and training on Sunday October 11th at 2 pm at Heck Street and Lake Avenue in Asbury Park, according to Derek Manno-Bloom, one of the organizers of the initiative.

The gathering will be outside and will be socially distanced with mask wearing, he said.

The Asbury Park Public Safety Units makes decisions by a 95 percent consensus model. Topics for the first meeting will include: What will the Public Safety Units look like in Asbury? What is your commitment/capacity to the Public Safety Units? Is anyone willing to contact a lawyer, and other groups in the county doing this, and finding out about insurance? What should the next training be?

There will also be a brief nonviolent de-escalation training from Minno-Bloom.

The goal of the Public Safety Units is to “respond to nonviolent community problems/issues in the moment they occur and for us to come to de-escalate issues before they become bigger problems,” Minno-Bloom previously told the Sun.

Those who volunteer will receive training in “nonviolent de-escalation skills, get social worker trainings, mental health crisis trainings, anti-oppression trainings and connect with other groups around the country that are doing this as well to learn from them,” Minno-Bloom said. 

The Community Public Safety Units are a joint effort by the Asbury Park Transformative Justice Project (APTJP) and Cooperate Asbury.

From Minno-Bloom’s prior statement to asburyparksun.com: 

“The APTJP and Cooperate Asbury are teaming together to start Community Public Safety Units. Over the next year during COVID-19 we are looking for people who want to take part in these units. What does that look like you ask? Over the next year we will get training in nonviolent de-escalation skills, get social worker trainings, mental health crisis trainings, anti-oppression trainings, and connect  with other groups around the country that are doing this as well to learn from them.

Once we are trained up our community would call us to respond to nonviolent community problems/issues in the moment they occur and for us to come to de- escalate issues before they become bigger problems. We will create a large network of people participating in community accountability outside of the current criminal justice system.

If you live in Asbury Park or live close by and have a deep relationship with Asbury Park please email us at Transformativejusticeap@gmail.com if you are interested in joining our Community Public Safety Units.”

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