Successful Living, NAACP, Law Enforcement and Religious Leaders Collaborate to Hold Hate Crimes Trai

Pictured L to R: Rob Cash, ICPD; Tom Reinwart, FBI SAC; Kevin Sanders, NAACP IC Branch President/Successful Living Home Lead; Jody Matherly, Chief of Police ICPD; Marc Krickbaum, US Attorney; Janet Lyness, Johnson County Attorney; Mike Smithey, ICPD Detective.

In response to increasing prevalence of defamation-type crimes, and specifically to the racist graffiti recently placed on the Church of Nazarene, a hate crimes training forum was held 4/22/19 at the IC Airport. Collaborating in this effort were Federal and local attorneys, FBI, ICPD and leaders of area religious, mental health and minority groups in the Iowa City area. Participants received a training on safety awareness and preparedness, contacts for more information and also interacted with presenters. A specific focus was the connection between religious and minority groups with law enforcement, with an eye towards increasing awareness of issues and supporting actions to improve our community. Roger Goedken, Executive Director of Successful Living, along with leaders of local religious groups as well as differing nationalities openly discussed ways to make improvements. Food was also shared with Chief Matherly recommending the hand-made brownies brought by Successful Living.

Discussion towards a forum to be held October 2019 in a collaboration between Successful Living and NAACP are being worked out. The focus will center on mental illness and minority populations.