Page 8 - Inaugural Parenting in the 21st Century conference

Vanessa Westley is a now retired 29-year veteran of the Chicago Police Department. After a decade
of street experience in Patrol and Tactical units, Officer Westley has served as project manager for
the CPD’s Community Policing Project Office to further implement the Chicago Alternative
Policing Strategy (CAPS) and later for the Mayor’s Office of Faith Based and Community
Partnerships.

Ms. Westley is a Community Engagement Strategist and Asset Based Community Engagement
practitioner and law enforcement instructor in collaboration with DePaul University’s Steans Center
Egan Office of Urban Education and Community Partnerships. Chicago Police Department
members of who completed the training was issued a community engagement professional
development certificate. Ms. Westley trained over 200 hundred community policing officers and
community members in this curriculum. In addition to training members to engage communities
from an ABCD prospective, Ms. Westley is a public participatory dialogue facilitator and trainer
specializing in World Café, Pro Action Café and Open Space Technology processes. Currently Ms.
Westley serves on the International World Café Stewardship Council.

In her capacity as trainer and community engagement strategist, Ms. Westley co managed the ORJS
Virtual Reality Pilot that created virtual reality training tools for community and officers by hosting
a series of story circles throughout community with officers. The stories were
co-developed into content that was used in the VR scenarios.

Ms. Westley is a youth advocate and Advancing Youth Development certified instruction and have
trained and certified over 150 law enforcement members in this practice.
Ms. Westley is a restorative justice practitioner and national trainer specializing in law enforcement
restorative strategies and full school and community implementation of RJ practices. At the
Chicago Police Department Ms. Westley co created and coordinated “Bridging the Divide” a
restorative policing strategy to authentically engage the community of youth and emerging adults
while assigned to the Office of Restorative Justice Strategies. The goals of the process include
fostering positive youth leadership for community safety, and building the capacity of officers to
practice restorative, trauma-informed policing. The process also invites the broader community to
be part of the relationship building and understanding the impact of trauma, particularly upon youth
and emerging adults.

Ms. Westley also co-designed and implemented the Chicago Police Department‘s Youth District
Advisory Council that allows youth voice to be platform authentically around community safety
and law enforcement policy.