Two-hundred Cleveland patrol officers are expected to undergo training to help them recognize subconscious biases while on the job, according to a release from Washington State University.
This training is a response to national concerns about bias in police decision-making.
A simulator was developed by a Lois James, an assistant professor in the Washington State University College of Nursing and is being brought to life with the help of a $75,000 grant by the National Institute of Justice, the research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to Washington State University, James and a colleague developed Counter Bias Training Simulator (CBTSim). The portable simulator requires officers to make shoot-or-don't-shoot decisions.
Cleveland officers will be part of a study to determine the most effective way to train officers about bias, and whether or not the simulation-based training is the most effective.
Four-hundred patrol officers will be randomly assigned into four groups:
• One will receive classroom training in implicit bias
• Another group will be trained using the CBTSim simulator
• A third group will be trained using both methods
• A fourth control group won't receive
James says results will be measured by scoring body camera footage, the number of citizen complaints received, police surveys and focus groups, and surveys of people arrested to see whether they felt they were treated fairly. Police training will begin in the spring of 2019.
