About Us

Seminar: School police officers and their social mission, Ryazan, December 2007

The Climate of Trust Council is a partnership of colleagues from the United States, Russia, and other republics of the former Soviet Union. It brings together police officers, regional administrators, prosecutors, judges, human rights activists, community representatives, non-governmental organizations, and educators, and engages them in a joint effort to combat ethnic and religious hatred and xenophobia.

No minority can be safe unless the society they live in is governed by tolerance and the rule of law. Since 1998, the Climate of Trust has been counteracting the destabilizing influence of xenophobia, and cultivating an atmosphere of tolerance and mutual respect. Our approach is long-term and multifaceted. It includes training local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute hate crimes, conducting Russian-American exchanges to share best practices and establish partnerships, and educating community members how to resolve conflicts peacefully.

Climate of Trust Exchange 2007: Phase II in St. Petersburg American and Russian participants of the exchange program

Central to the Climate of Trust approach is its Regional Tolerance Centers. These are new, officially registered Russian NGOs that are established and run by the Climate of Trust participants themselves. They are places where police and the community work together to implement programs that defuse tension, promote tolerance, and help resolve differences under the law.

The Climate of Trust counteracts the destabilizing influence of nationalism and extremism by:

• Holding bilateral exchanges that teach proven American policing, prosecutorial, judicial and community organization practices and tools for combating ethnic and religious violence and resolving conflicts constructively.
• Establishing Regional Tolerance Centers that bring together members of society who set the atmosphere of tolerance/intolerance -- such as community leaders and activists, law enforcement, public officials, NGOs and others to work toward tolerance and common community goals;
• Creating a setting in which informative and productive dialogue, education, civilian involvement and institutional transformation are supported, leading to reductions in the causes and incidence of hate crimes and an increase in conditions that allow for sustainable change; and
• Building the capacity of communities and law enforcement to practically implement Russia's hate crime laws, with input and support from American police, prosecutors, judges and civilian organizations.