Relationships within their communities. Me in offering special recognition and thanks andodays sponsors, target Thomson Reuters, two Companies Whose core values clearly reflect their desire to connect Law Enforcement with communities by helping the national Law Enforcement museum to set the table for meaningful and impactful conversations. Now, for some brief housekeeping ours before i introduce keynote spend speakers. All attendees are muted. If you like to ask a question, please submit your question through the q a tab. Note that everyone in the webinar will see your question. , please cement your question through the q a tab. Note that everyone in the webinar will see your question. You can upvote questions submitte you can upvote questions submitted by other attendees and we will prioritize answering questions that received the most votes. A link to this webinar would be sent to everyone within two days, and will also be available on that museums youtube channel. Panelists, please room ever to keep yourselves on mute when you are not speaking. I would like to introduce our keynote speaker. Sharon belton, the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and alliances of Thomson Reuters government. She oversees development and management of private sector partnerships and government, legal and Law Enforcement trade associations. Sharon served as mayor of minneapolis from 19942001. She is the first woman and first africanamerican to be elected mayor. During her time in office but achieved National Recognition as an expert on Public Private partnerships, and Public Safety. Neighborhood revitalization, and economic developing. She serves on the Minneapolis City Council for 10 years, from 1984 to 1994 and was Council President from 19901984. Sharon . Sharon thank you so much for inviting me to join todays panel on antibias police training. Im delighted to be here and share my perspectives on the subject before our esteemed panel of experts discusses their experience delivering Training Programs to Law Enforcement professionals. Prior to being elected to the Minneapolis City Council, and later as mayor, i worked for the Minnesota Department of corrections, first as a parole officer and later as the assistant director of the state program for victims of sexual assault. I spent much of my career there developing and providing Training Programs for medical, legal, and Law Enforcement professionals to combat the bias against victims of rape and incest. Much of that bias was societal and widespread. We also developed major Public Awareness campaigns to stem the societal bias. While it has taken significant time to improve the treatment of victims of sexual assault, i think we can all attest to the fact that progress has been made. That progress requires and continues to require 1. Advocacy for change. 2. The the development of standardized procedures, and 3. Accountability. We as a state and a nation can improve and restore trust between our communities and the police. It must start with an acceptance that bias, including racial bias, has been embedded in our institutions. It is not just a problem in policing. The focus of todays public outrage is that the police bias can result in immediate lossoflife, by lethal means. And it requires our attention. I want to remind people that the opening paragraph of the 21st Century Policing report states that, the trust between Law Enforcement agencies and the people they protect and serve, is essential in a democracy. It is key to the civility of our communities, the integrity of our criminal justice system, and the safe and effective delivery of policing services. Now, that said, sadly, that trust, sadly continues to be eroded as more reports of harassment, unlawful detention, excessive use of force, and the deaths of africanamerican men and women, are more widely witnessed via social media in addition, post incident reports by officerworn body cameras, have provided another level of insight into the actions of some of our arresting officers. The most recent killing of george floyd in minneapolis, minnesota, shock to the city, the nation and people all over the globe. I believe even some of the most enthusiastic supporters of Law Enforcement raised their eyebrows after watching that video. Why . And how could something as egregious as this happen . Surely the officers involved in this call for Service Received training on how to deescalate a potentially volatile situation. And maybe even unconscious bias training to ensure the response to the suspect was appropriate to the situation, and not compromised by discriminatory beliefs or attitudes held by an arresting officer . All across our nation, citizens are demanding that elected officials either defund or dismantle the police as a response. There is a strong sentiment behind this demand for change and i believe that is because past attempts to change Police Culture and behavior, in the minds of our community, have failed, or fallen short of expectations. Today, leaders in Law Enforcement, joined by elected officials, legal scholars, advocates for rule of law, and justice equity, and citizens are demanding that more must be done. And the time is now. As a parole officer and an engaged citizen, and a former mayor, i want to go on the record intact wholeheartedly agree. What did we expect . What did we really expect . Is it rational to think that four hours or eight hours of unconscious bias training, implicit bias and or procedural justice was going to, or would change the attitudes of individual officers, that may have been exposed to a lifetime of bias, and stereotyping, that is pervasive in our society . Is it logical to think that Training Programs with no processes to ensure officers are held accountable, to incorporate the training into the way they perform their duties, would result in fewer complaints . Do incident reports require officers provide relevant information about their encounters with citizens to equip our Supervisory Staff with the needed information they need to assess compliance with performance standards . Is it reasonable to believe that if there are no consequences for violations of standards of performance, that any officer would feel compelled to comply with the standards or report any violations of those standards, to the appropriate internal authorities . These are all important questions that citizens are asking. And leaders in Law Enforcement should, and must be able to, answer. Reviews of the adoption of new protocols for policing should be standardized operating procedures. Not just procedures associated with criminal or investigative administrative investigations. I believe active steps must be taken to prevent training from becoming just another check the box experience. I want to raise another question. Is it possible we can train our way out of the problem of biased policing, or the excessive use of force against black and brown people . I think all of us know there are officers in some of our Police Departments that have a record of bias in their performance. Is it possible that this vulnerability toward bias could have been detected before they were hired . Or at the very least, identified early in their careers, so it could have been addressed . That said, maybe the best way to address the problem of biased policing is to improve our recruitment processes. Social science indicates there is evidence that societal and environmental exposures can have an effect on how individuals react to stress. Given that Law Enforcement officers are recruited from a variety of different backgrounds, and in some instances, exposed daily to the stresses of communities, that they are assigned to serve, it is critical for us to understand how these differential Life Experiences create risks or distressed vulnerabilities. I have raised probably more questions than the panel might be able to answer. But i hope that they can provide some food for thought. I am here today to listen and to learn. And my personal goal is to take back to my colleagues and my community, new information that will help us reimagine, and build, a model for policing, that is fair and just, for everyone. Thank you so much, for listening to my remarks. I look forward to listening to the panel discussion. Thank you, sharon. Really appreciate it. And i appreciate all of your support and your attendance in many of our events, when we were open, when the museum was open, as well as you being here today, so thank you. I would like to introduce dr. Booker hodges. Dr. Hodges is currently assistant commissioner of Law Enforcement for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. \dr. Hodges has been a diversity instructor for 18 years. His extensive career includes School Resource officer, a deputy, narcotics detective, swat operator, patrol overnight watch commander, inspector, undersheriff, the acting chief deputy, and the chief of police. An naacp leader, dr. Hodges is the only active Police Officer in history, and the history of the naacp, to serve as a branch president. In addition, booker serves as the chapter president for the National Organization of black Law Enforcement executives. Booker, i would like to turn it over to you. Thank you for joining us today. Can you hear me . Yes. Dr. Hodges i want to thank everyone for coming out today to the national Law Enforcement memorial and museum for hosting this important topic and im glad to be here. The issue of bias if you think about it in terms of modern history and how it is gotten thrust into the forefront. Around 2000, we were starting to have this discussion on racial profiling. And 9 11 happened. And we had to take that discussion and put on the back burner. And anything for those of you who can cook, im asking you put on the back burner of the stove, eventually it is going to boil over so every few years this pot keeps boiling over and my hope is that with panels like this we can move forward and take the pot off the back of the stove and move forward in society. With that, we have a great panel here for you today. I am grateful they grace me with their presence. We have phenomenal people here today and i think youre going to get a lot out of what they have to say. The panelists are going to introduce themselves and how they answer their questions because we know our time is limited and we want to really give you something to walk away with here. My first question for our panelists is, as we are talking about bias can someone answer specifically what is antibias training . This is duane crocker. Hello, booker. This is duane crawford, the director for the National National black lawon of enforcement executives and are National President linda williams. To me, how we are able to train our law and personnel and anyone in the organization how to understand the biases you may have. Or stereotypes you may have about certain people and how that may also influence how youre able to protect and serve a person, a community, or an organization, based on biases you may have based on their race or where they live. Anyone else . I would add that at its best antibias training is a longterm thing. It is not a oneday workshop or a checkmark, it is something that includes skills, that includes longevity with a plan attached to it. When we talk about, once we identify the biases, the hard work is in identifying and not letting how people can control their thinking. Dr. Tracy from the center for policing equity. I agree that is what the training is supposed to do but i go back, what are we trying to solve for . I think that is what has to be answered. All too often, implicit bias training and antibias training is used to solve for something deeper and so i want to lift that up. Im the retired chief of the sheriffs office. [indiscernible] now im director, former director of Law Enforcement programs for the National Coalition building institute. [indiscernible] one of the things we understand about biases which we all have them, people may think you dont but you will have them in the antibias training is a way to acknowledge and recognize what your biases are, so you can then do something which would be beneficial instead of problematic, on injury or harm to others or interfere with your relationship with the community. Once you become aware of your biases, to look at how can you come up with a way to change that . As both my colleagues have indicated it is something we get over time and one of the things the mayor mentioned about psychological testing with new hires and officers who have been on a while. There are tests that can determine tendency for bias. But as you have been on longer in a department, that information so that you can see what accumulative effect has been on how you interact with people. My name is patrick, the president of the National Fraternal order of police and i would like to add to that as well. Bias training is a buzzword we like to throw out there and we have been having a lot of discussion about it now but i will take it a step further, when we talk about culture and culture is key within our agencies as well and it starts at the top. That culture is what allows us to build on. We can talk about bias training i want but the relative, what makes it relevant is the interactions in the communitybased relationships we build long before we have crises in our communities and that is vitally important to this. We can put water on the fire all we want but at the end of the day it is about the relationships we created an advance that allowed us to learn about bias and also allows us to truly understand different cultures. All right. Dr. Hodges there is one term i did not hear anybody say when they discussed bias. It is the term, race. I want to ask people, is there a difference between bias and racism . And if so, what . And if not, why do you think that . Who wants to jump first on that one . I am right behind you. I did not introduce myself. Guillermo lopez, and i codirect the lawenforcement pogrom for the National Coalition building institute. Of course, racism plays a big part in how biases get developed. Sexism plays a big part, homophobia and they all intersect when it comes to antibias. But i think in this place and time we are in, if we do not talk about how is it that we deconstruct institutional racism, we are missing the whole point. So whatever programs we do it has to be centered around interrupting institutional racism, dismantling institutional racism. And it is not just an antibias training. It is at all levels of training that we have to include this. Really quick, i think the question you are asking is how are these different . Im going to first, agree and plus one what guillermo said. They occupy the same space. And what is going on now is definitions of each of these and how you define them. Across the country people are defining these differently. How you define it is going to determine your approach to it. For example, for the center we define racism has accumulated patterns of behaviors that disadvantage one racial group and advantages another. That can include systems, policies and all the things that facilitate that. You can understand if you are doing automatic associations of groups with stereotypes, how that type of perspective and whether it is explicit or implicit influences each of those things. You can be explicit about not liking peoples color, and you can very much count on that you are influenced by something in that space, that has you making those particular outcomes. But i think what we are really talking about here, is often times these things are conflated. That if you want to talk about implicit bias or antibias training, you are therefore calling me a racist. And that is not what is happening here. And i have to say that. The other part of this is, how people are oriented around the space. We cannot forget, people are coming from different lived perspectives. Different family members are talking about things in a different way. Patrick was on point youre talking about the culture. It is not only about the broader culture but it is also about the culture of policing inside those buildings. What happens there. So we get into those spaces where we are trying to disentangle how much of this can we control for . And how much can we not . I can tell you the thing we cannot control for is that somewhat if we do plus a training, which i dont call training, i call awareness. Even if we do that, one thing you have to remember is the power of the influence of all those things that help you make those quick, automatic, stereotypical associations. Even if we train our young folks which happens when we want to hear from recruits, when they go home for christmas and they are sitting at a table with ma and pa and people who believe a certain way, it is hard for something to step up and break out of that. Or to stay silent and sit back from that. It is a difficult thing to disentangle, and i understand why people conflate it. But the definitions are critically important on how we begin to address it. So i wanted to make sure i offered that up. Dr. Hodges anybody else . So, i will stay on this one a little bit. Nationally, based on my