Hvad kan polititrænere lære af den nuværende krise?

Politireformen er på den nationale dagsorden som reaktion på George Floyds kvælende død af en politibetjent i Minneapolis i slutningen af ​​maj – og mange andre sådanne hændelser før og siden. Direktør for Politiuddannelsesinstituttet, Michael Schlosser, vægtede den aktuelle krise. Baseret på University of Illinois i Urbana-Champaign, PTI træner snesevis af politiafdelinger i staten Illinois. Schlosser talte med News Bureau life sciences redaktør Diana Yates.

Hvad var dit svar på videoen af ​​en politibetjent i Minneapolis, der dræber George Floyd?

Det var hjerteskærende at være vidne til George Floyds død. Det var så svært at se et menneske ligge på jorden, døende og tigger om sit liv. Mine første tanker var som person, ikke en betjent:Jeg var vred og ked af det. Min anden reaktion var som en i politiets praksis. Jeg tænkte, "Vi kan ikke lade dette blive ved med at ske. Det er ikke det, politiarbejde handler om."

Hvad synes du om politiets reaktion på protester i kølvandet på Floyds død?

Jeg var forfærdet over at se nogle betjente bruge vold mod fredelige demonstranter, at se en ældre mand i 70'erne blive væltet til jorden af ​​politiet, ligge der på jorden, blødning fra hovedet, og betjente der gik forbi. Der skal ændres - og nu.

Mange betjente viste tilbageholdenhed under protesterne, selv med demonstranter, der råber og bander ad dem. Disse betjente håndterede situationerne professionelt. Men fokus skulle nu være på den forfærdelige polititaktik. Som en, der driver en politiskole, det er min opgave at fortsætte med at være proaktiv for politireformen.

Hvad tror du er årsagen til den nuværende krise i politiet?

Først, racisme er en daglig del af det amerikanske samfund, og politi og strafferetspleje indgår i det. At se de mange nylige hændelser og lytte til lokalsamfund rundt om i landet, der råber efter noget bedre, Jeg kan se, at vi har brug for forandring i politipraksis og politikultur.

Dette er ikke en ny erkendelse for mig. Mit team og jeg har studeret og implementeret politireformprogrammer siden begyndelsen af ​​2014. Vores programmer er designet til at give politibetjente en bedre forståelse af deres egne implicitte skævheder og udsætte dem for nogle af de problemer, der vil være vigtige, når de interagerer med forskellige fællesskaber. Klasserne begyndte på PTI før Michael Browns død i hænderne på politiet i Ferguson, Missouri. Indtil nu, hundredvis af politirekrutter har deltaget i disse programmer.

Hvad skal politireformen indebære?

Vi skal ansætte de rigtige folk holde dem ansvarlige og slippe af med dem, der overtræder den etiske kodeks, der forventes af politifolk. Vi skal sikre os, at betjente, der overtræder denne kodeks, ikke har mulighed for at blive ansat af andre retshåndhævende myndigheder.

Der skal så meget træning til, og den skal være kontinuerlig gennem en politibetjents karriere. Officerer skal lære at deeskalere situationer og være opmærksomme på deres egne implicitte forudindtagethed. De skal tage sig tid til at udvikle kulturel kompetence med hensyn til de samfund, de tjener. De burde lære om historiske spørgsmål, der involverer skæringspunktet mellem politi og race. De bør også investeres grundigt i lokalpoliti.

Nogle samfund taler om definansiering, afskaffelse eller redesign af deres retshåndhævelsessystemer. Hvad er dit svar på de ideer?

At afskaffe politiet er meningsløst, og jeg tror ikke, det er det, vores borgere virkelig ønsker. Jeg kan forstå deres frustrationer, og hvorfor de måske kalder på denne type fortælling. Men hvem vil du ringe til, når du har en aktiv skydespiller, når nogen bryder ind i dit hus, når din ægtefælle eller partner slår dig, eller når du er offer for en forbrydelse, der skal efterforskes, like criminal sexual assault or elder abuse?

I don't want to see funds taken away from police agencies. But I do want to see a lot more funding going to organizations and professionals that can take on some of the roles police officers have had to do every day for years. Professional social workers, counselors, psychologists and medical personnel have the expertise and can follow up on many of the issues our citizens are experiencing.

Det sagt, we train officers to interact with people who are in a crisis; have mental health issues or developmental disabilities; or are suffering from anxiety, depression, financial difficulty or substance-abuse issues. Police can provide contacts for professional help and are trained to offer some limited counseling. But they cannot offer the same service as a professional could on the spot.

Police agencies cannot afford to lose funds. Officers need continued training in many areas. They also need to have time in their day for positive community engagement. Officers need to get out of their squad cars and interact with citizens when it is not a call for service, a domestic dispute or a traffic stop. Casual interactions build trust and understanding. But if departments are underfunded and work with minimum staffing, they can't get out into the neighborhoods, visit youth centers or attend community events.

Officers in understaffed police departments spend much of their time handling calls and writing reports, and this can lead to burnout. Cutting their funding further would not be helpful to the future of policing.

What initiatives are you taking at the Police Training Institute to promote police reform?

We do not use a military approach in our academy. We train recruit officers using the adult-learning model, which involves scenario-based training. Our trainees learn nonescalation and de-escalation techniques as well as community policing by engaging in scenarios that they are likely to encounter in their life as a police officer.

We also offer courses that are not mandated by the state. These include Policing in a Multiracial Society, LGBTQ Ally Training, and Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Prevention. These programs give our recruit officers an opportunity to listen to the voices of those who are not always heard, to help create respect and empathy.

We work with faculty members and researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and with the leaders of the Illinois Innocence Project at the U. of I. at Springfield to build and improve our educational programs.

The state mandates 40 hours of scenario-based training, but we offer more than twice that amount. The majority of these exercises involve nonescalation and de-escalation training.

We also know that it is essential for recruit officers to be proficient and confident in their control and arrest tactics. Thirty-two hours is required by the state, but we offer 53 hours in this type of training. I have always thought the more an officer is confident in these tactics, the more likely they are to spend more time talking and de-escalating. Omvendt officers who are not well-trained and confident in their physical tactics are more likely to react based on fear or biases, rather than responding to the behavior they are observing. This makes them more likely to resort to physical confrontations at an earlier stage of an interaction.

Will continuing education or community partnerships solve this problem?

Continuing education for police officers will make a difference, but only if it is quality training. Og, we can only get to where we need to be with community partnerships. Departments should not have one officer labeled as "community policing officer." Hellere, every officer on the department, from patrol to the chief or sheriff, must be community policing officers.