This episode takes a deeper look into what makes safe communities. My guest, Aqeela Sherrills and I are both strong advocates for holistic Community Safety Partnerships that empower residents to play a role in public safety. These programs have helped contribute to improved public safety and foster better relationships between the police and communities.

Aqeela’s dedication to ending violence and promoting community-based public safety began in Watts, Los Angeles, where he joined the Grape Street Crips. At age 19, Aqeela and Hall of Fame NFL star Jim Brown co-founded the Amer-I-Can Program, Inc. to address the impact of systemic racism and heal gang violence in cities across the country by empowering individuals to overcome factors that negatively influenced their lives. 

From 1989 to 1999, more than 400,000 adult and juvenile inmates in 16 states were trained in the Amer-I-Can curriculum, and 1500 high risk youth were diverted from continued involvement with California criminal justice system. 

During that time, Aqeela was a chief architect of a historic truce between the Crips and Bloods in Watts. That ceasefire began to fray because of the systemic racism that creates conditions that bred crime, drugs, and violence. Aqeela and his brothers created the Community Self-Determination Institute in 1999 to tackle those personal and social issues, including healing communities’ post (and present) traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Aqeela serves as the Senior Advisor to the Alliance for Safety and Justice’s Shared Safety Initiative, a national nonprofit working to replace justice and prison system waste with common sense solutions that create safe neighborhoods and save taxpayer dollars. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Alliance for Safety and Justice, and Chairman of the Board of the Newark Community Street Team.