WEST LONG BRANCH, N.J. – Monmouth University will host law enforcement executives and community stakeholders for the region’s first “fair and impartial policing” training on June 8-9, 2017. The training will be led by nationally recognized authority Lorie Fridell, Ph.D.
The fair and impartial policing curriculum was developed with the support of the U.S. Department of Justice – Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the International Association of Chiefs of Police and was based upon research conducted by Fridell, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Florida and an expert on racially biased policing.
The fair and impartial perspective is centered on the science of human bias. A fundamental concept underpinning the course is that all people, even well-intentioned people, have biases. Research has shown that while some bias is explicit and purposeful, other bias is unconscious or implicit, the result of subtle associations and stereotypes.
“I am extremely excited to be able to bring Dr. Lorie Fridell to Monmouth to conduct this training with our local community,” said Provost Laura Moriarty. “The more law enforcement officials are exposed to these important concepts, the easier it may be to integrate them into policing policies and practice.”
The former director of research at the Police Executive Research Forum, Fridell has authored and co-authored a number of chapters and books on the topic of biased policing, including Racially Biased Policing: A Principled Response, which guides law enforcement executives on how to respond to the issues of racially biased policing and the perceptions of its practice. Concerned about the very high expectations that stakeholders have with regard to data collected on police stops, she wrote By the Numbers: A Guide for Analyzing Race Data from Vehicle Stops and the companion book, Understanding Race Data from Vehicle Stops: A Stakeholders’ Guide.
The training is sponsored by the Monmouth University Office of the Provost and the School of Social Work and is scheduled to include representatives from command-level staff from the Monmouth and Middlesex County prosecutor’s offices, the Monmouth University Police and the New Jersey Attorney General’s office, among others.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni will make opening remarks on June 8.