Local police officers and community members joined together Thursday to learn how to apply fair practices in the line of duty.
About 30 people, including Gainesville Police Chief Tony Jones and University Police Chief Linda Stump, attended the training course, "Fair and Impartial Policing: A Science-Based Approach."
The interactive class, held at GPD’s Hall of Heroes, discussed how understanding an individual’s implicit biases can help police officers and community leaders design action plans and build relationships with the community.
"Officers who have not formed relationships in the community are automatically filled in with stereotypes," said Lorie Fridell, a USF criminology professor and the class instructor.
The event was held in light of the controversy in Ferguson, Missouri, where an officer shot a black 18-year-old man, GPD spokesman Officer Ben Tobias wrote in an email.
"It’s part of our job to hear scrutiny," GPD Lt. Rob Koehler said.
UF health science junior Caitlyn Turner, 21, said she thought the focus shouldn’t just be on police officers, but the community as a whole.
"Another force has to come in to maintain a protected community," Turner said. "The force is us."
Fridell divided attendees into groups based on agencies to identify their top three priorities in moving ahead with their action plans.
Part of the action plans included volunteering with the community, developing policy in conjunction with stakeholders and thoroughly evaluating plans and decisions.
"This is the beginning of a long journey, to take the things that we have learned here and implement them in our training and our policy," Jones said. "It’s a great start to understanding this very delicate subject and what to progress on in the Gainesville community."
Gainesville police officers and community members attended a training course “Fair and Impartial Policing: A Science-Based Approach” Sept. 3, 2015, at Gainesville Police Department’s Hall of Heroes. The class discussed actions police officers can take to exhibit fair and impartial policing.
Gainesville police officers and community members attended a training course “Fair and Impartial Policing: A Science-Based Approach” Sept. 3, 2015, at Gainesville Police Department’s Hall of Heroes. The class discussed actions police officers can take to exhibit fair and impartial policing.
