NJ cops get lesson in avoiding racial bias
Andrew FordWEST LONG BRANCH - You supervise a squad of police officers patrolling an area with a variety of bars and the black community claims hip-hop bars are being aggressively pursued while rock 'n' roll bars serving white patrons are treated more leniently.
How do you figure out if these allegations are valid? What will you do about it?
More:NAACP: Neptune HS needs 'anti-bias' education after racist photo
More:Blackface photo ignites anger; Brick schools promise action
That was one of the hypothetical scenarios posed Friday to a group of command-level law enforcement officers and community leaders and from across New Jersey training to understand and combat bias in policing. Monmouth University hosted the training led by Lorie Fridell, an associate professor of criminology at the University of South Florida.
Fridell explained that all people have biases that can impact their behavior – some biases are explicit, like the conscious discriminatory behavior of outright racists.
More:Hate crimes in NJ decrease overall, increase against Muslims
More:How can you determine the most racist places in America?
Other biases are implicit, Fridell explained. Even well-intentioned people can unconsciously link groups to stereotypes.
Attendees of the two-day course considered how these human tendencies can appear in police work and received guidance on how to protect communities in an impartial way. Fridell lauded the attendees for being proactive.
"These law enforcement agencies are here becuase they want to get out front of a national issue and have state-of-the-art training based on science," she said.
The event was sponsored by Monmouth University Office of the Provost and the School of Social Work. Agencies represented at the training included the U.S. Attorney's Office, New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, the New Jersey Department of State, the New Jersey State Police, Monmouth County Prosecutor, Middlesex County Prosecutor, Monmouth University Police Department, Moorestown Township Police Department, Ocean Mental Health Services, N.J. Prevention Network, 180 Turning Lives Around.
Andrew Ford: 732-643-4281; aford3@gannettnj.com