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Cultural diversity training for peace officers: clearly not working
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We are all here together. We all need training.
A prominent Black scholar,Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., is arrested inside his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts for disorderly conduct, and the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, documents in his report that the 911 caller informed him that she saw two black males with backpacks attempting to force entry into Mr. Gates home.
Days later, the 911 caller (who had now been publicly labeled as a racist) revealed that she had never been interviewed by Sgt. Crowley, and that she never (at least voluntarily) made any reference to the race of the men that she saw attempting entry at the front door of Mr. Gates residence when she initially reported the incident.
Shortly thereafter, a Boston, Massachusetts police officer, Officer Justin Barrett, is suspended and placed on administrative leave after it is discovered that he sent out a mass e-mail to his colleagues (and to the Boston Globe) referring to the actions of Mr. Gates as those of a "banana-eating jungle monkey."
Police officers throughout the U.S. (and around the world) have been receiving cultural diversity training since the 1960's - known then as police-community relations training. Specific policies and procedures for the implementation of cultural sensitivity training for police officers were developed during the early 1990's. Click here for a downloadable sample of the curriculum.
Sgt. Crowley received the full support of the Cambridge Police Department, as well as the support of law enforcement officials from across the nation for his arrest of Mr. Gates. In fact, the support for Sgt. Crowley was so passionate and widespread that police officers everywhere became angry with President Obama as a result of the remarks he made in response to the arrest.
Officer Barrett's response to the incident speaks for itself.
Law enforcement has been working on improving police-minority relations for decades, and as a result of these two incidents in Massachusetts, it is clearly evident that the cultural diversity training be given to police officers is either not being used, or is just "flat out" not working.
Why is the training not working? Is the content of the training insufficient? Do more hours need to be allocated for training? Is there not enough funding available for law enforcement agencies to run cultural diversity programs?
Maybe yes - maybe no, but there are at least two constructs of thought and process that we can confirm have a direct impact on the results of cultural diversity training for police officers.
For example, the police mission involves the enforcement of our nation's laws through the use of power and authority for the purpose of suppressing criminal activity and protecting the public.
Many police officers believe that cultural diversity and/or sensitivity training directly conflicts with their mission, and view much of the training as either patronizing or completely unnecessary.
Complicating matters further (for police officers and minorities alike) is the fact that once these men and women in law enforcement receive their training, the social conditions (poverty, drug trafficking, gang violence, etc.) that make up the foundation of negative police-minority relations still exist.
It is difficult for anyone - even police officers, to focus on being sensitive to race when they are consistently faced with situations involving unknown circumstances, and employed with the responsibility of making split-second decisions based on those same circumstances.
However, there is a strategy that could significantly improve the relations between police officers and minority communities. That strategy is - "train the community."
One of the greatest assets in policing is also one of its greatest pitfalls; the infamous "code of secrecy."
If police departments are training its personnel in cultural diversity, not only should the populations they serve be aware of this training - citizens should also have the option to receive similar training.
And who better to provide the training than police officers?
We need to understand what police officers do and why. Police officers training citizens on the importance of recognizing the benefits of diversity and its role in the police mission not only opens a healthy dialogue between the police and minority communities; it also creates an environment where relationships can be developed, and where the suspicion between groups can be replaced with hope, faith, and trust.
We figured out a way to put men on the moon - surely we can figure out a way to improve relations between minorities and law enforcement.
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