As part of the Center for Community Research and Engagement’s “Policy Lab”, our

As part of the Center for Community Research and Engagement’s “Policy Lab”, our class has been participating in conversations surrounding the creation of Civilian Complaint Review Boards in the State of New Jersey. We have had guest speakers including Joseph Pastino and Dr. Matthew Hale to discuss the history of CCRBs and the reasons that such public bodies are being discussed at the state level. Your charge is to write a 2-page (single-spaced) policy memo advocating for a specific outcome regarding CCRBs. You can address your memo to a state legislator, the governor, or a local mayor (understand the difference in audiences here). In your memo, you will discuss a brief overview of the issue at hand (you will need to do some independent research here), provide some statistics (more research!), develop an idea, provide support for your idea, and recommend a course of action.
Below are some resources that will help you to learn more about policy memos. This assignment is purposely research focused (including the learning of how to draft policy memos) to understand the role of Policy Analysts (and of policy analysis as a whole) across levels of government. You will be evaluated on the quality of your research and the quality of your writing.
Some helpful resources on developing Policy Memos:
How to Develop a Memo: https://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/36824/11-479Spring-2004/NR/rdonlyres/Urban-Studies-and-Planning/11-479Spring-2004/9CE4ACA2-EC3D-4C1D-91CC-27971E27DCF5/0/pmwriting.pdf
What is a Policy Memo (with an example): https://sites.google.com/site/bushschoolwriting/policy-documents/policy-memos
Example of a recent policy memo at the local level: https://policymemos.hks.harvard.edu/files/policymemos/files/fr_town_council_amherst_ma_3_18_21_re_funds_racism.pdf?m=1631300919
Another local example: https://policymemos.hks.harvard.edu/files/policymemos/files/city_of_oakland_ca_fr_police_commis_re_equip_policy_memo.pdf?m=1631299448