The Newark Community Street Team (NCST) was founded by Mayor Ras J. Baraka as Newark’s community-based violence reduction strategy. NCST draws upon an evidence-based, trauma informed approach to violence reduction. NCST hires, trains and deploys Outreach Workers and High Risk Interventionists in the South and West Wards of Newark to:
Provide casework to those at greatest risk of becoming a victim or a perpetrator of violence
Engage in high-risk intervention, both mediating on-going disputes that may result in violence and preventing retaliation.
Offer Safe Passage at contracted schools
Provide support to crime survivors who are overlooked by traditional victim services agencies.
READ the Newark Community Street Team Narrative Evaluation prepared by the UCLA Social Justice Research Partnership. The evaluation documents the origins and development of the NCST model, its successful implementation and charts the evolution of NCST as it moved from a pilot project to a promising practice.
A thriving, safe Newark made up of neighborhoods with residents actively engaged in the safety and well-being of their communities.
– NCST Vision
The mission of NCST is to support safe neighborhoods by healing trauma, intervening in violence, and empowering residents to end violence in Newark. We put the public in public safety.
– NCST Mission
NCST draws upon an evidence-based, trauma informed approach to violence reduction that has been implemented in several cities across the country. NCST believes that relying on crime rate data as the only indicator of public safety is inadequate. Safety is not just the absence of violence but the presence of well-being and systems that support the most vulnerable amongst us. NCST envisions a public safety system that puts victims at the center of our public safety strategy and invests in healing services for community and our law enforcement partners.
"The Newark Community Street Team (NCST) employs non-traditional community leaders, including those who have been formerly incarcerated and those who have been engaged in the drug trade. They are trained as mentors and interventionists, and support at risk youth and young adults 14-30 years old through a case management model. NCST Outreach Workers have transformed their own lives and are committed to supporting others' transitions."
– Mayor Ras J. Baraka
FAQs
Will NCST help with my research project?
Our communities are important to us. To protect everyone, we have developed a policy about research studies. NCST does not allow recruitment for research studies or surveys through our Outreach Workers or at the Public Safety Round Table without prior approval.
Our organizational philosophy can be described as “nothing about us without us.” We believe that academic research practices have too often contributed to the exploitation of Black communities and communities of color. We require that all researchers work with the community as an equal partner from the beginning. This means that communities meaning they must be included when developing the research project, credited for their contribution, and compensated as professionals. (Gift cards are not sufficient.) We also require that community have access to all of the data.
NCST Institutional Review Board (IRB) has an Institutional Research Board overseen by the UCLA Social Justice Research Partnership at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. The IRB must approve all requests to recruit for research or surveys before NCST will support participation in any research study or recruitment for any research study.
Does NCST cooperate with law enforcement?
NCST receives information from law enforcement so that we can intervene and mediate in disputes but NCST does NOT share information with law enforcement. We work with our law enforcement partners by accepting their referrals of people in need of casework and focusing our work on mediating disputes that are creating violence.
Why not?
NCST does not cooperate with law enforcement for many reasons. 1. It is not safe and we will not compromise our outreach workers’ safety. 2. As documented in the Federal Consent Decree, the Newark Police Department and other law enforcement agencies have a long history of misconduct. We believe that much healing must happen before community is ready to trust and cooperate. 3. We believe that arrest and incarceration represent a failure of many systems that led to the person becoming a criminal and we believe that the prison systen is a form of torture that causes greater harm. (We also believe that drugs are a public health issue, that drugs should be decriminalized, and that the Drug War is a continuation of slavery.)
Can NCST provide Safe Passage at my school?
NCST staff are all paid and not volunteers, therefore, we cannot dedicate staff to a school without receiving a grant or a contract. Please contact ncstscheduling@gmail.comfor pricing information. If you work for or your child attends a Newark Board of Education school, you can contact the District to ask if they will provide for the service. If you work for or your child attends a charter, we recommend that you speak with the school administration.
Will NCST volunteer to staff my event? Will NCST dedicate resources to my block/store/house?
NCST staff are all paid and not volunteers. Our Outreach Workers have families and work second jobs and have hobbies and lives so they are not always available to volunteer. However, we will always try to come and support your event. We also table and speak at events when staff have availability. Please send any invitations or requests to speak/table/present to ncstscheduling@gmail.com.
We are not an on-call security company but we conduct Community Walk on Thursdays at 5 and respond to community requests to walk in their area. Our high risk interventionists will also respond as soon as they are able to any problem areas where we might work with individuals to make better life choices. We would always prefer that you contact us to try to address a problem in the community before you call the police. Please contact our HRI Hotline at (833) 254-6278 or Daamin Durden at (973) 399-1003with an inquiry.
How do I get a job at NCST?
NCST is often hiring and we will give people a chance at their first job. We hire people with criminal records but do a background check to ensure that you do not have a history of domestic violence or child endangerment. All other records are acceptable.
Send a resume to ncstscheduling@gmail.com to schedule an interview. If you do not have a resume, contactSolomon Middleton-Williamsmiddletonsncst@gmail.com to become a mentee and we will help you to create one.
I know someone who needs help.
(Examples: He/she is going to hurt someone or get hurt. He/she is coming home from prison and needs help making new choices. He/she is hustling and wants to make a change but has never had a job.)
We are! All of our outreach workers are trained by Professional Community Intervention Training Institute-International, the elite professional certification. We are also trained in case management, grief counseling, CPR, mindfulness, trauma symptoms, risk assessment, and more. We are public safety professionals! We are also part of Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice and Alliance for Safety and Justice and receive frequent trainings from these organizations.
What is “community based public safety”?
We believe that community is at the center of creating safety and that safety is not measured by arrests or crime stats, it is measured by community wellness. NCST believes that by investing directly in the human beings who are connected to violence, you create safety. The police can respond but community prevents violence. We train our outreach workers to create safety in their own neighborhoods. We also reject that idea that outside organizations have the answers and that we need them to “save” us. This is another form of colonization. NCST is run by Newark residents and deeply committed to self-determination as the secret to creating long term improvements in public safety.
How can I help?
We accept all types of volunteers. Some people help at Safe Passage, some have taught us a class or shared a skill. We can use season-appropriate good quality donations of clothes, goods, and food. And above all, we can use cold, hard, cash to pay our outreach workers what they deserve. Call 973.399.1003 to volunteer or donate here.
Does NCST partner with other organizations?
We do! We have so many wonderful partners that it is too much to list. We have a resource list we are happy to share and we make referrals to great organizations like the Newark Street Academy and Imagine, a Center for Grief.