Description
The increased public outcry has brought public attention to the killings and excessive force used by police officers in the United States on unarmed African American males and criticism of the lack of police implicit bias training within the police services and the criminal justice system. The police bias involves the policing of immigrants, homelessness, Muslims, the LBGTQ community, and the non-English speaking Americans. The Michigan Commission on Law Enforcement Standards (MCOLES) is the governing agent in Michigan for licensing and training of police cadets and police officers. This qualitative study is a content analysis of the MCOLES Cultural Awareness and Diversity Curriculum to see how the MCOLES standards correspond to scientific evidence on reducing implicit bias behavior in officers. The findings suggest that the MCOLES curriculum does not meet the scientific standards on implicit bias training. The training will require significant enhancements that will include America's bias police history, police biases processes, sensitivity training, strategies to promote long term reduction of bias police behavior, and assessment to evaluate police racial attitudes.
