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Carlton T. Mayers II, Esq.
Founder, Owner, and CEO
National expert problem solver in community development and safety solutions
Carlton T. Mayers II, Esq., as founder, owner and CEO for Mayers Strategic Solutions, LLC, has made great strides, with over 10 years of experience advocating for criminal justice reform on Capitol Hill and in more than 30 states. Informed by his experience, Carlton developed Community Empowerment-Centered Approach and the C.A.T. Method ®, which stands for Community Empowerment, Accountability, and Transparency. Growing up with a diverse heritage in New York City, Carlton learned to value community, passion, and commitment. And the recent successes related to community safety and policing reform in several states and localities across the U.S. through Carlton's assistance, including the Kalamazoo County Open Database Resolution, further solidifies his devotion to helping communities break down the silos that prevent the open and honest exchange of information so that community members and law enforcement can effectively collaborate with each other to support public safety and ensure police accountability.
Prior to founding Mayers Strategic Solutions, LLC, Carlton directed the NAACP National Office’s Criminal Justice Program and advanced criminal justice reform in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities throughout the U.S. Carlton also co-authored the NAACP’s Born Suspect: End Racial Profiling Report, which educates the public on ending racial profiling by law enforcement on the state and local levels.
Then, as Policy Counsel for the Policing Reform Campaign at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) Carlton conducted legal research and writing on racial bias and discrimination by law enforcement arising under federal and state criminal law and criminal procedure. Further, in this role, he strategized on creating policy and advocating for policing reform to federal, state, and local governments. Likewise, Carlton advanced policing reforms in several localities throughout the U.S., such as working on: the consent decrees in Ferguson, Missouri, and Baltimore, Maryland; policing reforms in North Charleston, South Carolina related to the Walter Scott case; and the New York Police Department's use of stop and frisk tactics in New York City. In all these localities, Carlton worked with community members and other public safety stakeholders on establishing mechanisms and processes that meaningfully include community members in identifying, strategizing, and implementing solutions for public safety and policing reform.
Additionally, on behalf of LDF, Carlton collaborated with officials from President Obama's Administration on various policing reform initiatives implemented by the White House and the U.S. Department of Justice including the 21st Century Policing Task Force Final Report. Carlton lobbied on Capitol Hill with federal lawmakers for federal policing reform legislation as well.
Since the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, Carlton advised state lawmakers in multiple states on policing reform legislation, and five of these states (Wisconsin, Indiana, Missouri, Illinois, and Maryland) passed policing reform legislation into law in 2021 that incorporate Community Empowerment-Centered Approach and the C.A.T. Method ®. In 2021, Carlton also provided feedback on policing reform solutions to the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE) which recently published a report on reimagining public safety. Indeed, Community Empowerment-Centered Approach and C.A.T Method ® are highlighted in NOBLE’s report.
These and other experiences throughout Carlton's policy reform and advocacy career have given him perspective on how diverse public safety and policing reform can look in different communities. There is no cookie cutter solution. And Carlton understands that to have longstanding and sustainable solutions for public safety and community-law enforcement interactions, community members who live in neighborhoods with high levels of negative interactions with law enforcement like racial policing and excessive use of force must have substantive decision making power over all law enforcement activities that are directly related to community-law enforcement interactions like stops, arrests, uses of force, surveillance technology, and the way protests are handled. It is imperative that, through the establishment of specific mechanisms and processes, these community members are empowered to effectively address improving community-law enforcement relations because these community members are closest to the problem and have their fingers on the pulse of community-law enforcement interactions. Through Community Empowerment-Centered Approach and C.A.T Method ®, Carlton empowers communities to make this ideal a reality.