10. After Community Conflict: Acknowledge What Happened, Support Those Affected, and Plan for the Future.
Community-wide conflicts—whether sparked by mass gatherings, hate incidents, or unrest—leave emotional and psychological impacts long after the immediate crisis ends. Once the visible tension subsides, leaders have a critical opportunity to:
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- Acknowledge what occurred with honesty and empathy.
- Support those affected, especially those who experienced harm or trauma.
- Begin planning for how to act more effectively in the future.
Why take this step?
Crises can erode trust between residents and their community leaders. When the immediate danger has passed, people naturally seek to understand what happened. This is a pivotal moment to:
- Provide a clear and accurate account of events, distinguishing between the peaceful majority and those responsible for any violence or destruction.
- Express empathy and solidarity with those who were harmed or distressed.
- Counter exaggerated or misleading narratives by issuing joint statements from trusted figures—such as the mayor and police chief—to enhance credibility.
This is also an opportune moment to plan for future incidents. Hindsight is 20/20. After experiencing unrest firsthand, leaders are more likely to recognize the importance of preparation and may be motivated to:
- Reflect critically on what happened.
- Identify what worked, what did not work and the reasons why.
- Collaborate on strategies to respond more constructively in the future.
Assigning these tasks to individuals who are not emotionally or physically exhausted from the crisis ensures that momentum is not lost. Alternatively, obtaining an independent assessment from a third-party expert will provide insights and recommendations for the future.
How to take this step
Members of the staff, hopefully those not exhausted by managing the mass crowd event, might be asked to:
- Prepare a statement, perhaps from both the mayor and law enforcement chief, that provides clear information about what occurred, hopefully releasing the statement before false narratives take hold. In the statement, empathize with fellow residents and indicate whether an independent review regarding how the mass crowd event was handled will be forthcoming and how they can express their views about what occurred.
- Support employees, recognizing that public employees and law enforcement personnel may bear trauma, encouraging venting and healing, helping them if harassed or traumatized, and asking them what support they would have wished to have had during the mass crowd event.
- Check in with community leaders, finding representatives to provide input on what occurred, how they experienced it, who/what might have been missing in the response, and what can be improved to face future mass crowd situations.
- Schedule a meeting to discuss next steps focused upon the interests underlying issues raised during the unrest.
- Consider arranging for an after-action report[1] conducted by a third party that might inform the city, county, state, and national leaders’ management of the next mass crowd event.
- Convene planning for the future while, in the aftermath of this event, people appreciate what can be gained by such planning.
ILLUSTRATION | Eugene, OR
Framing what occurred the previous evening, commending those who helped or gathered peacefully, expressing empathy, condemning destructive and violent acts by a few, charting the path forward, offering hope.
The mayor issued a statement:
“I want to express my support for those who gathered peacefully in solidarity with the City of Portland, my gratitude to Eugene Police for their efforts to protect life and property in our community while allowing people to protest, and to share in the frustration and sadness that our local businesses once again have borne the brunt of unnecessary violence and damage.
Last night over 500 people were able to assemble and peacefully demonstrate for more than three hours. I understand there were tense moments. I appreciate that for the most part, people in our community can find ways to peacefully manage those interactions. I am very grateful that the police were able to arrest the counter protester who fired a gun in the midst of that event. That display of violence is illegal, dangerous and unacceptable. It is not welcome here.
After those protests, a smaller group of people moved through our downtown and began damaging local businesses and buildings, creating a volatile and dangerous situation for members of the public and our police and hurting our own local employers and workplaces. This group was not associated with the . . . group of peaceful protesters but acted on their own.
This behavior is also unacceptable and does not reflect our community. It is contrary to the progress of so many who are trying to create meaningful change.
I understand there is anger and there is urgency. I understand this work cannot go fast enough and we must work harder and faster to address systemic racism and police reform.
Destroying and defacing our city does not move this work forward any faster. It is counterproductive. It is not the path our city will take.
We will continue to reach out to find a path to turn the corner from protest demands to constructive engagement in local solutions. We will not be deterred from that critical work. We will continue to chart a path that makes us better together.”[2]
– Lucy Vinis, at the time the Mayor of Eugene, Oregon, July 26, 2020
Illustration | College Station, TX and Texas A&M University
Learning from the event to revise policies
In Chapter 8’s illustration from Texas A&M University, the divisive speaker had been invited by a private Texas resident, and he spoke at the university’s student union. After the visit, the university reviewed and changed its free speech policies to require that external speakers have a sponsorship by a recognized on-campus organization in order to use school facilities. The updated policy, while recognizing the First Amendment, allows anyone to give a speech in open areas on the campus.[3]
- National Police Foundation, How to Conduct an After Action Review (2020), www.policinginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/How-to-Conduct-an-AAR.pdf. ↵
- Eugene, Oregon. Statement from Eugene Mayor Lucy Vinis. July 26, 2020. https://www.eugene-or.gov/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=4539&ARC=9411. ↵
- Sara Ganim, Texas A&M University changes campus speaker policy over Richard Sencer visit, CNN, Mar. 21, 2017. ↵
