Reverse Ride-along: The road to community transformation

Overview - The reverse ride-along is a community-based initiative intent on building networks of trust and collaboration between social servants and the constituents they serve. This grassroots approach uses community tours as an instrument to highlight key resident leaders and institutions within each individual community. The theoretical underpinning is that increased knowledge of a communities assets leads to improved service delivery outcomes applicable to a variety of social services sectors within the City of Cleveland and beyond.  

Outcomes- To date, the Reverse Ride-along has been adopted by both the CMHA Police and the Cleveland Police Academy as a part of their training for new Police Officers. The length of the experience ranges from 4 to 9 hours based on the size of the group and the location of the tour sites. The following is a recap of outcomes to date.

• 86 hours of direct engagement has occurred between Police Officers and community residents. 
• 358 officers have participated in a Reverse Ride-Along Tour. 
• Over 2200 residents have experienced direct interaction with the Police Officers as a result of this program. 
• Over 45 community organizations have participated in a Reverse Ride-Along activity. 

On September 20th we plan to film a documentary of the reverse ride-along during our time in the Central community. 

The documentary will involve the filming of officers and residents engaging in activities at various sites in the Central community. We also plan to conduct 1-1 interviews to highlight the differences and similarities that exist between officers and the residents. The project will be concluded by November and shared accross a number of platforms for all to see. 

Vision - Our country is divided into factions and silo’s where bias’s are validated by our inability to connect as humans. The lack of personal interaction has a direct impact on the services delivered in our communities, and the Reverse Ride-along tackles this issue heads on. As the program expands to educators and healthcare providers it is important to find creative ways to share our story. With the funds provided to this project we will film a documentary of the Reverse Ride-along that will highlight the people and assets in our communities.