The District of Columbia is experimenting with a new way to reduce police racial bias and negative interactions with Black residents.
SEE ALSO: Erica Garner’s Death Calls Attention To NYPD’s Broken Promise Of Anti-Racism Training
Officers will take a course on critical race theory and visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture as part of a new training program, Mayor Muriel E. Bowser announced on Friday, according to The Washington Post.
Violent crime and homicides are down in the nation’s capital, but the relationship between officers and the Black community are tense, the mayor added.
The program is designed to give officers insight into the Black experience with law enforcement in the district and across the nation.
“People who were supposed to serve and protect had played in the enforcement of discriminatory, racist and unjust policies and laws,” Police Chief Peter Newsham said standing outside the African American History Museum. “The museum includes very honest and poignant stories of the role that policing played in some of the historical injustices in our country.”
Racial sensitivity training, however, doesn’t work because it fails to address implicit racial bias, Lorie Fridell, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Florida, told The New York Times.
Teaching White cops about the history of racial discrimination and African-American culture rarely helps when officers make a split-second decision on whether to shoot. Despite sensitivity training, cops share the same unconscious biases toward Black people as most Americans do, University of Colorado researcher Joshua Correll explained to The Times. When deciding whether to pull the trigger, cops fall back on their fear of Black men.
Interacting with people in the community on a daily basis while walking the beat and training in how to defuse volatile situations are more effective approaches, Correll added.
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47 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
47 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
1. Botham Shem Jean, 26
1 of 472. Antwon Rose Jr., 17
2 of 473. Robert Lawrence White, 41
3 of 474. Anthony Lamar Smith, 24
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5. Ramarley Graham, 18
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6. Manuel Loggins Jr., 31
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7. Trayvon Martin, 17
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8. Wendell Allen, 20
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9. Kendrec McDade, 19
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10. Larry Jackson Jr., 32
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11. Jonathan Ferrell, 24
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12. Jordan Baker, 26
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13. Victor White lll, 22
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14. Dontre Hamilton, 31
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15. Eric Garner, 43
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16. John Crawford lll, 22
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17. Michael Brown, 18
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18. Ezell Ford, 25
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19. Dante Parker, 36
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20. Kajieme Powell, 25
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21. Laquan McDonald, 17
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22. Akai Gurley, 28
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23. Tamir Rice, 12
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24. Rumain Brisbon, 34
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25. Jerame Reid, 36
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26. Charly Keunang, 43
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27. Tony Robinson, 19
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28. Walter Scott, 50
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29. Freddie Gray, 25
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30. Brendon Glenn, 29
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31. Samuel DuBose, 43
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32. Christian Taylor, 19
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33. Jamar Clark, 24
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34. Mario Woods, 26
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35. Quintonio LeGrier, 19
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36. Gregory Gunn, 58
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37. Akiel Denkins, 24
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38. Alton Sterling, 37
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39. Philando Castile, 32
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40. Terrence Sterling, 31
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41. Terence Crutcher, 40
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42. Keith Lamont Scott, 43
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43. Alfred Olango, 38
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44. Jordan Edwards, 15
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45. Stephon Clark, 22
45 of 4746. Danny Ray Thomas, 34
46 of 4747. DeJuan Guillory, 27
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Continue reading 47 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
47 Black Men And Boys Killed By Police
UPDATED: 11:14 a.m. EDT, Sept. 11, 2018 -- The troubling trend of police killing unarmed Black people has shown no signs of letting up, with the latest instance in Dallas reimagining what a police shooting can be. Off-duty Dallas police officer Amber Guyger shot and killed Botham Shem Jean after she entered his apartment Thursday, Sept. 6. Guyger's story has changed multiple times in less than a week since the shooting, and it would appear that the so-called blue wall was trying to protect her. Jean's shooting came after a string of other controversial police shootings across the country, with many of them including officers who shot fleeing, unarmed suspects in their backs. Take a look below at the growing gallery of unarmed Black men and boys who have been shot and killed by police.
DC Tries A New Approach To Improving Police Interactions With Black Residents was originally published on newsone.com
