Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Ohio AG's report on police training


REPORT OF THE OHIO ATTORNEY GENERAL’S ADVISORY GROUP ON LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINING

Hal Pepinsky, pepinsky@indiana.edu, “peacemaking” at pepinsky.blogspot.com

April 29, 2015

 

                I recommend reading the report Ohio Attorney General Michael DeWine released today by his Advisory Group on Law Enforcement Training Group at http://www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Files/Briefing-Room/News-Releases/OPOTA/2015-LETAG-Report-Web-and-Press-Release.aspx . Recommendations coming from the subcommittee on community relations are a refreshing response to the problem of police violence in communities of color, summarized as follows at p. 6:

After reviewing currently available training, the Community Relations Subcommittee felt that

additional training on subjects such as implicit bias and procedural justice should be developed and offered to all officers in Ohio. The Subcommittee, as well as the full Advisory Group, spent considerable time discussing police relations in Ohio's African American communities. Training initiatives should not ignore this critical component. In addition to the training review, this subcommittee discussed the need for every agency to become more active in their community by fostering programs that increase positive, non-enforcement related, police-community interactions (my emphasis).

 

                I’m encouraged to see this move beyond the mindset of discipline, punishment and surveillance to bridge the dehumanization that “broken windows” law enforcement has reinforced.  Love and peace, hal

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