Rapid Response to Serious Incidents
Serious violent incidents not only impact victims and their loved ones, but they also have a ripple effect on the broader community. It can be difficult to gather information and coordinate in these quickly-developing situations. To improve our effectiveness, we created a rapid response protocol to streamline our response to serious incidents. This section is adapted from that protocol.
Main Program Components
Triage
Within the first 24 hours of an incident occurring, the CCSJ coalition director calls a meeting of Steering Committee members to determine whether rapid response is necessary, the scale and scope of response, and the immediate next steps. In preparation for the meeting, CCSJ members share information based on direct contact with victims, their loved ones, and other parties who have reliable information about the situation. CCSJ members who monitor English and Chinese language news and social media also gather information about public discourse and potential misinformation/disinformation in circulation.
Core team
After the triage stage, the Steering Committee creates a core team that is supported by the coalition director. This team will make major decisions about strategies and priorities and guide support teams. Because of the fast-paced and sensitive nature of rapid response, members of the core team ideally:
Are in a leadership position at a CCSJ partner organization and can make decisions on behalf of the organization,
Are able to access resources to implement response strategies immediately,
Have the capacity to engage, including in daily huddles, and
Have on-the-ground direct connections to those most impacted
Support teams
Support teams increase the capacity of the core team to implement the rapid response. Support teams can be larger and more diverse, including staff or community leaders outside of CCSJ. The breadth of support teams allow them to engage external partners and build a broader coalition for the rapid response.
Response components
The particular response to a serious incident depends on the specifics of the incident and the needs of the victim/survivor and their loved ones. We have outlined multiple potential response components to activate:
Direct services: Ensure victims’ needs are met with culturally-competent, in-language resources and that all service providers are coordinated.
Communications: Develop a joint statement, talking points, and communications strategies that focus on centering victims and their needs, shaping narratives, and dispelling misinformation/disinformation. It is important to think through needs for both English and non-English media and traditional and social media.
Community healing: Create community spaces for our communities (including staff) that may be indirectly impacted and experiencing vicarious trauma from the incident.
Strategic political engagement: Engage elected officials and other impacted communities.
Systems change: Develop a policy platform and advocacy campaign.
Rapid Response Example
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a series of harmful incidents, many of them against Chinese elders both in San Francisco and Oakland. There was a building narrative that Black perpetrators were targeting and attacking vulnerable community members.
Tension within our communities was building up. There was a rise in anti-Black, reactionary forces, including many groups that were vigilante in nature that were taking it upon themselves to take on individuals who were “the threat.”
We decided to hold space for our communities for unity, hope, and healing. Because of our pre-existing relationships with groups across the Bay, we were able to organize cross-Bay events in Oakland and San Francisco.
We decided to root the program in love for our community, to speak to our community’s pain and fears, and to call for investments that support survivors and focus on prevention. We intentionally made it multiracial because of our belief that everyone deserves to feel safe and this is a cross-community issue.
Our cross-Bay event garnered a lot of media coverage, which spread the message that the Bay Area was united to stop violence. This coverage overtook the reactionary, anti-Black messaging.
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