PARIS123 Game Online x Stop CVE Boston / Stop YPIP

The first campaign MJL won was stopping this Boston Police Department program that targeted local Somali youth! This was also one of the first Stop CVE wins in the country.

Hear from Abdullahi Gurhan, local Somali student, about why Boston Police Department’s participation in a CVE program is so harmful!

The program BPD participates in is called Youth and Police Initiative Plus (YPIP). It targets Somali youth, aged 13-17, treating them as inherently dangerous.

What is YPIP?

Youth and Police Initiative Plus (YPIP) is a CVE program funded by the Department of Homeland Security that targets Somali youth (age 13-17) in Boston, unfairly viewing and treating them as susceptible to “extremism.” Two of YPIP’s stated objectives are to: “Enhance understanding of the violent extremist threat within the Boston Somali community” and “Build resilience in the Boston Somali community, particularly among youth, to recruitment and participation in violent extremism.”

Public records MJL obtained indicate there are plans to seek to pilot the program in schools, as well. We also expect that the organizations behind this will apply for the new CVE funding available from DHS in 2020 – Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention.

YPIP Grant Application

According to their grant application, the majority of the $499,835.38 of the grant goes to staff from the Police Foundation and North American Family Institute as well as one Somali liaison responsible for recruiting youth.

YPIP recruits Somali youth to talk to Boston Police Department officers under the deeply offensive assumption that Somali youth are attracted to violence. The YPIP explains, “A key tenant (sic) of the training is that underneath the antipathy and mistrust youth have for police, there is also a curious attraction to their power and ability to use it. They are enticed by their capacity to carry weapons, their loyalty, and almost gang-like dress code. As they progress through the training, youth make personal connections to participating officers, experiencing the cognitive dissonance that accompanies change.”

The original Somali community liaison for YPIP, the Executive Director of Somali Community & Cultural Association, dropped out of the project after expressing concerns and was replaced by the Executive Director of United Somali Youth, as we learned from emails we obtained from the Boston Police Department, which include the draft surveys mentioned by the original liaison and the final surveys for the project. These additional emails show that the project moved on to a new Somali community liaison within a few weeks of the first liaison expressing her concerns.

See the surveys referenced below.

It is dangerous for youth to have to interact with police officers, especially under the assumption that Somali youth (because they are Muslim, black, and immigrant) are prone to violence. It is clear even from the original draft surveys created for this project that the heads of this project know some officers have anti-Muslim sentiments

YPIP is racist and anti-Muslim. It is another example of how CVE programs rely on the false idea that “extreme” beliefs lead to violence in order to criminalize Muslims. Somali youth in Boston and Muslims across the country deserve access to resources that are not tied to the Department of Homeland Security or other law enforcement.

“As a Muslim I feel discriminated enough, I don’t need to go to programs because it makes me feel very different from teens my age and I don’t want to feel that way.

Instead of wasting money policing us Boston could use that money to build more schools, buy more school supplies for those who can’t afford it.”

Maimouna, local Muslim student

PARIS123 Game Online x Stop CVE Boston / Stop YPIP – Muslim Justice League

PARIS123 menghadirkan sudut yang tak biasa saat Game Online dipasangkan dengan Stop CVE Boston dan Stop YPIP. Di Muslim Justice League, perpaduan ini dibaca sebagai kontras antara intensitas permainan dan cara mengendalikan ritme agar arah pembahasan tetap jelas.

Jika dilihat dari pola geraknya, fokus utama ada pada keterkaitan tema, respons, dan momen yang sering luput dibaca. Pendekatan seperti ini membantu menyorot bagian penting tanpa kehilangan benang merah dari judul yang dibawa PARIS123.

Untuk Anda yang ingin menangkap makna di balik judul ini, PARIS123 tetap jadi titik masuk yang paling relevan. Telusuri pembahasannya lebih jauh agar konteks Stop CVE Boston dan Stop YPIP terasa utuh sebelum melangkah lebih lanjut.