Fair and Impartial
Policing: The
Supervisor’s Role
Introduce yourself
Your experience
Share something about yourself
Goals of this Training
Understand that all people, even wellintentioned people, have biases
 Understand how implicit biases can affect
perceptions and behavior
 Understand how biased policing impacts
community members and the law
enforcement organization

Goals of this Training--2
Understand the role of supervisors, as
leaders, in implementing organizational
change that leads to fair and impartial
policing
 Understand how to address biased
behavior with individual officers,
community members and the public.

Supervisors/Leaders Have a
Responsibility to Ensure that
Officers:

Are effective at solving crimes and handling
problems

Stay safe and go home at the end of the shift

Enhance/promote trust with the community they
serve.
Effective Supervisors/Leaders
Are:
Role Models
 Mentors
 Representatives of the Department
 Authorities on Policy and Practice
 Professional Coaches
 Disciplinarians
 Change Agents

During this Training
 Relax:
Leave your preconceived
notions about “bias” training at the
door.
Our
approach is different from
traditional training.
During this Training
 Reflect:
Think about what it
means to be an effective
supervisor.
…what
you expect of yourself and
your officers.
During this Training
 Recognize
You
your expertise.
bring experience and expertise
to the discussions.
During this Training
 Stretch
your imagination and
apply your skills.
 This
training requires active participation in all
of the discussions and exercises.
Understanding
Human Bias
Susan Boyle – Britain’s Got Talent
Fundamental Concepts of
Human Bias





Bias is a normal human attribute—even wellintentioned people have biases
Biases are often unconscious or “implicit”
Implicit biases are sometimes incompatible with
our chosen beliefs and values
Implicit biases can influence our actions
Understanding how implicit bias can affect our
behavior is the first step to “overriding” implicit
bias
Understanding Implicit Bias
Whom we are most likely to pre-judge
 What determines the characteristics we
assign to them
 Whether we know when we are prejudging
people

Understanding Implicit Bias-Answers

Whom do we pre judge?
 We

prejudge “ambiguous stimuli”
What determines the characteristics we
attribute to them?
 Group

stereotypes/biases
Do we know when we are doing this?
 Not
always.
Bases on which People may be
Stereotyped (and Treated
Differentially)
Income
 English language abilities
 Gender
 Age
 Religious affiliation
 Profession
 Sexual orientation, identity
 etc.

Prompt Slide: Woman/Man with
a Gun Role Play
We implement in the recruit training
 Key point of role play…

Key Point of Role Play
Policing based on stereotypes is
unsafe.
Key Points of the “Blink”
Response
Recognize the “blink” response
 Replace it with objective (bias free)
judgments

Prompt Slide: Key Points of
the “Blink” Response

Recognize the “blink” response”

Replace it with objective (bias free)
jugdements
“Money Train”
Woody Harrelson is an undercover officer.
Note: The use of the copyrighted material falls under fair use laws with no
intended copyright violation.
Credits:
Stereotyping and Human Bias
When we don’t know an individual, we
assign a group characteristic to them
 Often we do not know when we are
impacted by biases (they can be
unconscious or “implicit” biases)
 Recognizing our biases allows us to
override them—to engage in unbiased
behavior.

Prompt Slide: Law
Enforcement and Community
Law enforcement officers deal with a variety
of community members……
Mad World Video – Gary Jules
Prompt Slide: Susan Fiske
Implications

Fiske

How do people in our society react to the
homeless?

How might some officers treat the
homeless versus person of means?
Key Point:
Policing based on stereotypes is
unjust.
Race-Crime
Association Studies
Fill in ambiguous stimuli
 Don’t know it
Now: Race-Crime subset of implicit
biases


The “Shove” Study

Study: Subjects observed two individuals in
video. Disagreement and shove.

Did the subjects interpret the shove by African
Americans differently than shoves by Whites? How?

Result: The “shove” was perceived as more
threatening when performed by an African
American (Duncan, 1976).
Replicated and showed this was true for both
White and non-White subjects (Sager and
Schofield, 1980).

The Visual Perception Study

Subjects were primed with Black male
faces, White male faces, or no faces

Completed object recognition task
(Eberhardt, Goff, Purdie, & Davies, 2004).
Levels of Degradation
Frame25
141
Frame
Crime Relevant Object
Crime Relevant Object
Crime Neutral/Irrelevant
Object
Hypotheses

If the Black-crime association impacts our visual
perception, then:
 Participants primed with Black male faces
should be faster to identify crime-relevant
objects than those primed with White male
faces.
 There should be no effect of prime for crimeirrelevant objects.
Object Identification
________________________________
28
Crime-Relevant
Frame number
26
Crime-Irrelevant
24
22
20
18
16
Flashing White
Faces
No Faces
(Control)
Flashing Black
Faces
Visual Perception Study:
Conclusions

Exposure to Black male faces facilitated
the identification of crime-relevant objects.

Exposure to White male faces inhibited the
identification of crime-relevant objects.
Be a Research Participant!
We will see slides of backgrounds and
then a person will appear—very quickly—
with something in his hands.
 Shout “Threat” if you see a threat
 [Silent if no threat]

Correll Results: Race Made a
Difference
Speed: Participants shot a White armed
man slower than a Black armed man.
Errors: Participants were more likely to
shoot an unarmed Black man than an
unarmed White man.
(Correll, 2002)
The Turban Effect Study
Research volunteers played a computer
game that showed apartment balconies on
which different people appeared, some
wearing Muslim-style turbans and others
bare-headed.
 They were told to shoot at the people
carrying guns and spare those who were
unarmed.

The Turban Effect Results


People were much more likely to shoot Muslimlooking characters even if they were carrying an
“innocent item” instead of a weapon.
They also found a gender effect: Subjects were
more likely to shoot men than women even
when both appeared harmless.
(Unkelbach, Forgas & Denson, 2008)
Prompt Slide: Implications for
Law Enforcement

Officers may see danger when none there
(over-vigilant)

May overlook danger (under-vigilant)
 (Money
Train example)
Due to Implicit Bias, Officers
May:
Increase scrutiny of people of color
 Interpret ambiguous behavior on the part
of people of color as more aggressive
 Respond to people of color more
aggressively
 Under-respond to Whites, Asians, etc.
 And so forth.

Biases are Based,
at Least in Part, on
Fact
(Example)
Prompt Slide: One example
pertains to race and crime
Criminologists have shown that
people of color are
disproportionately involved in
street crimes
Economic Status, Race and
Crime
A = Lower income people are
disproportionately represented among
people who commit street crimes
 B = People of color are disproportionately
represented in lower income levels
 A+B=C People of color are
disproportionately represented among
people who commit street crimes…

Prompt Slide: But, that
stereotypes are sometimes
based in part on fact….

Does not justify your making policing
decisions based on those stereotypes.

Such decisions can be unsafe, ineffective
or unjust.
Crash Scene: The
Streets of Los
Angeles
Usage of the copyrighted material
falls under fair use laws with no
intended copyright violation.
Sandra’s character was right! Her
stereotype held true.
 Sometimes your “blink response” is right.

 But
sometimes it is wrong.
 It is unreliable.

Because it is unreliable, you should not
police based on your blink responses, your
biases….
Key Point
Policing based on biases is
unsafe, ineffective, and unjust…
As First-Line Supervisors You
Help Your Officers To:



Effectively perform their duties and solve crimes
Identify the right suspect and make good cases
Keep safe and go home at the end of the day
Policing based on biases/stereotypes
impedes achievement of these
objectives!
Implicit Bias
Manifests in NonPrejudiced People
Prompt Slide: Implicit Biases
Implicit bias manifests even in nonprejudiced people
 Exists even in individuals who consciously
hold non-prejudice ideals/attitudes

 EX:
Even many minorities have a racecrime/danger implicit bias (Shove Study)….
Prompt Slide: Some Think….

Biased policing is “someone else’s issue”
 Often
think that because of their progressive
attitudes towards other groups, they must be
bias free
 Quite
likely: They are wrong.
Addressing Our
Implicit Biases
Prompt Slide: Two remedies
for our implicit bias “affliction”

#1. Reducing our implicit biases

#2. Recognizing our biases and thwart
their impact on behavior.
Prompt Slide: #1. Reducing
implicit bias

(A) Contact theory

(B) Unlinking stereotypes
Contact Theory: Reducing
Implicit Bias
Positive contact between members of
groups improves inter-group attitudes and
reduces both explicit and implicit biases.
Prompt Slide: Biases Against..
Muslims are weaker in people who have
had positive personal contacts with
Muslims
 Native Americans ….
 Gays/Lesbians….
 Poor people...

Personal Contacts and Implicit
Biases in Officers

Peruche and Plant (2006) Measured
implicit bias on the part of officers
 Shoot/don’t
shoot simulator to measure
implicit bias.
 Police, too, manifest implicit racial bias
 But implicit racial/ethnic bias is weaker in
officers who report positive interpersonal
contacts with racial/ethnic minorities
Prompt Slide: Key Point
Very normal human interactions
can help us reduce our biases.
Prompt Slide: Unlinking
Stereotypes
Difficult to undo our implicit biases….took
lifetime
 BUT police firearms training seems to help
us unlink the stereotypes we associate
with groups (e.g., minorities and danger)
 How might this work?

 Repeatedly
exposed to random pairing of
threat and race (and other demographics).
Unlinking Stereotypes: Correll
Study #2




Speed: Both police and civilians exhibited robust
racial bias
Errors: Bias was less likely to manifest itself in
the decisions by police (Correll, 2007).
Bottom Line: Police made the correct
decisions.
Implication: High quality, role play use-of-force
training helps police “unlink” race & crime for
split-second use-of-force decisions.
Prompt Slide: Remedy #1:
Reduce implicit biases
Remedy #2: Recognize our
biases and thwart their impact
Implementing “Controlled
(unbiased) Behavior”
 If
we recognize our biases
 We can implement “controlled
behaviors” that override our (natural)
implicit biases. (Prof example)
Summary: Fundamental
Concepts of Human Bias





Bias is a normal human attribute—even wellintentioned people have biases
Biases are often unconscious or “implicit”
Implicit biases are sometimes incompatible with
our chosen beliefs and values
Implicit biases can influence our actions
Understanding how implicit bias can affect our
behavior is the first step to “override” implicit
bias
The Impact of Biased Policing on
Community Members and the
Department
MODULE 2
Prompt Slide : Previous
Module
Science of implicit bias – perceptions and
behaviors
 Forms of implicit bias with policing
relevance (including race-crime)
 Biased policing is ineffective, unsafe and
unjust

Biased Actions Impact:
Community members
 Your law enforcement agency

Prompt Slide: Impact of
Biased Policing on Individuals
Testimonial: Captain Will Hill
RI State Police
FAIR AND IMPARTIAL
POLICING ENGENDERS
COMMUNITY RESPECT AND
COOPERATION
Prompt Slide: How does
your agency benefit when the
community trusts and respects
you?
Research Demonstrates
Police cannot be effective without
support/cooperation of the community
 Community members who perceive the
police as being fair see them as a
legitimate authority

Supervisor’s Role in
Engendering Police Legitimacy
Prompt Slide: Your Daily
Interactions

Can influence community support of the
department
cops think – no one sees/cares
 YOUR actions determine whether the
community thinks the agency is legitimate
 Some
One aspect: Ensuring your actions are fair and
impartial
 AND ensuring that the community
SEES/PERCEIVES fair and impartial policing

Police Legitimacy Impacts the
Public’s Willingness To:
Obey societal laws
 Cooperate with the police
 Assist with crime prevention efforts
 Assist with valuable information during
criminal investigations
 Support criminal prosecutions

Fair and Impartial Policing
Results In….
Community trust and cooperation
 Legitimacy of police among community
members
 Safe policing
 Effective policing
 “Good” policing

Supervising for Fair, Impartial,
and Effective Policing
MODULE 3
Prompt Slide: In the beginning of
this training session…
 We
made the point that supervisors
are…
 One of your most challenging tasks is
to guide your officers . . .
 The decisions you make and the
actions you take . . .
In This Session
How to identify bias in your direct reports
 How to intervene when you suspect bias
 How to assess your own potential for
biased decisions
 How to speak to individuals, community
forums and media about bias and biased
policing

Prompt Slide: The Power of
Supervisors

Let’s talk about the power of the supervisor..

Supervisors should convey the importance of
fair and impartial policing…

If fair and impartial policing is important to
you as a supervisor. . .
“Crash”
Prompt Slide: Think About…
 What should the Lieutenant have done?
 The message the Lieutenant sent.
 The culture of a department that would
support/condone such a response.
Identifying Biased Policing in
Your Direct Reports
Prompt Slide:
Recall, bias can manifest in ill-intentioned
OR in well-meaning officers
 Your job: Identifying when bias manifests
in either
 Question: “What should I be looking for?

Prompt Slide: Picture an
Officer who….

“Sees crime” in young Latino males:

What types of actions on the part of this
officer might be impacted by this bias?

That is, what might this person do more (or
do less) with Latinos?
Prompt Slide: Picture an
Officer who…

“Sees” well-to-do as law abiding, honest

How might this officer treat a wealthy person
compared to a poor person?

YOUR JOB: Be on the look out.
Prompt Slide: What are your sources
of information for detecting biased
behavior?
 On-sight
observations
 Written reports
 Radio/MDT transmissions
 Citizen/Internal complaints
 Evaluations
 Information provided by other officers
 Early Intervention System (albeit, limited)…
SC Law on Data Collection
Article 48, Chapter 5, Title 56
 Requires the collection of data on motor
vehicle stops that do not result in a citation
or arrest
 Information collected: Age, gender,
race/ethnicity of driver
 Agencies who comply are eligible for
highway safety funds
 Data are not yet linked to individual
officers.

Prompt Slide: Identifying
biased behavior in direct reports



Again: Several sources of information

For original detection

For affirming/allaying concerns
Again: Looking for biased behavior on the
part of:

Ill-intentioned

Well-intentioned
But acknowledge this is very difficult…
Prompt Slide: It is difficult to
identify bias!

Not visible behavior like force, it’s what
the officer is thinking

This is why we can’t rely on department’s
complaint system

But this doesn’t mean we “throw up our
hands”.....

Must understand and deal with less than
clear information and evidence.
Intervening to Thwart Biased
Behavior
Prompt Slide:
We have discussed how biased
behavior can manifest in your direct
reports and the types of information
you might use to identify behaviors
of concern.
Prompt Slide: Officer Gary

Sees crime pretty much in all young Latino males.

Uses traffic stops to pull Latino males over to
visually check interiors of cars.

Much more aggressive with these folks.

No specific crime reports targeting Latino males.

Good cop otherwise; number of commendations
for his kindness and beyond-the-call-of-duty
activities.
As a supervisor, what do you do
about this officer?
Addressing Bias with Direct
Reports
Recognize ambiguous nature of the
“evidence” of biased behavior
 Approach:

 Share
your observations
 Ask why this might be occurring
 Use non-accusatory tone
 Structure concerns in terms of officer safety
and effectiveness
 Discuss how/why behavior might be biased
and unacceptable
Prompt Slide: Roll Call as a
Teaching Opportunity

Prevention is a great intervener.

Look for regular opportunities to integrate
Fair and Impartial Policing teachings.
Prompt Slide: Role Call--2

Discussions about suspicions of biased
policing will be easier if the discussion has
occurred before in relaxed group settings.

As a supervisor, periodically present
hypothetical situations during briefing and
discuss them calling upon the key points in
this training.
Supervisors are Human Too!
Not just your direct reports who might
have biases.
 Be aware that your decisions may be
influenced by your own biases….

What decisions/actions on the part of
a supervisor might be impacted by
his or her biases (based on race,
gender, etc.)?
[Think of both decisions reflecting
operational decisions and decisions
associated with managing direct
reports.]
Prompt: Decisions/Actions that
might be impacted

Managerial examples:
 Deciding
who gets assigned to do what
 Differential respectful treatment of direct
reports
 Etc.

Operational examples:
 What
crimes on which to focus
 Where to allow aggressive treatment
 Etc.
Prompt Slide: Your Directions..

Also: Be aware that some directions that
you give could:
 Be
interpreted through the biases of your
officers
 Produce biased policing.

Example.
Departmental Policies
 Just discussed how to identify and respond to biased behavior
 Will soon have you discuss some situations that require problem
solving.
 Relevant to that problem solving….. department policies.
Prompt Slide: Department
Policies

Policies define biased policing
 Tells
officers………can/can’t
 Many focus just on race/ethnicity, some
broader
There is not ONE definition of biased
policing
 You need to know/understand policy to
supervise to promote FIP

Small Group Discussion
Question
(Focusing on race/ethnicity)
When is it appropriate for police to take
race/ethnicity into consideration when
making law enforcement decisions (e.g.,
decisions to stop, arrest, request consent to
search)?
The Suspect-Specific Policy
Model
Officers may not consider the race or
ethnicity of a person in the course of any law
enforcement action unless the officer is
seeking to detain, apprehend, or otherwise
be on the lookout for a specific suspect
sought in connection with a specific crime
who has been identified or described in part
by race or ethnicity.
The PERF Policy Model
Officers shall not consider race/ethnicity [or other
demographics listed here] in carrying out law
enforcement activities except when credible,
locally relevant information links a person or
people of a specific race/ethnicity [or other] to
an unlawful incident, unlawful incidents, criminal
patterns, or schemes.
Prompt Slide: Again: Policy
Importance

In supervising to promote fair and impartial
policing

Agency policy defines what it is.

This is relevant to next exercises…..
Scenarios 1 - 7
Talking with the Community and
the Media about Bias
Prompt Slide: Talking with
community, individuals

For example: Citizen concerns of bias,
community meetings, media
 Palo

Alto
Have you had to deal with an individual or
group with concerns about bias?
 What
did you do? Were you good? Bad?
What would you do differently?
Prompt Slide: Individual
community member …..

Alleging biased behavior

Can be tense

Let’s start with this: How do you want your
subordinates to respond to accusations of
biased behavior made against them in a
situation like this? … (Geico Commercial)
A Suggested Response to an
Accusation of Biased
Behavior
“I am sorry that you feel that way. I stopped
you [or whatever the officer did to intervene
with the community member] because you
_____ [officer explains the violation or other
reason for the intervention].”
Prompt Slide: Why this
language?

Officer’s denial will not be effective
 Won’t
change motorist’s mind
And besides: The motorist might be right!!
(What have we learned?)
 Our suggested language:

 Acknowledge
 Back
to business.
Prompt Slide: Now you are
called to the scene

What do you do/say?

What do you not do/say?
What To Do
Listen to the concerns of community
members
 Inform community members of their right
to file a complaint and the process for
doing so

What NOT To Do
Adjudicate on the spot
Prompt Slide: Speaking to
community groups about bias
BEFORE the crisis

Do your agencies hold community
meetings?

Use these to talk about bias
 More
constructive “before the storm”
Fair and Impartial Policing
Messages
Fairness and impartiality are the values of
the agency
 Agency does not tolerate biased policing
 We understand, however, that humans
have biases and so…
 The agency has instituted policies and
procedures to promote fair and impartial
policing, including…

Prompt Slide: Speaking to an
angry community AFTER an
incident (where bias is alleged)
Objectives of Communication:
 Reduce
 Relay
anger, tension
factual information about the incident
Prompt Slide: Sure-fire way to
increase tension and anger

Declare: “No biased policing occurs in this
agency.”
The Crisis Communication
Message
The agency does not tolerate biased
policing; and has adopted policies,
practices and training to promote fair and
impartial policing.
 The agency is committed to conducting a
comprehensive and transparent
investigation

Crisis Communication—2

The agency will listen to the individuals
involved—both the subjects and the
police–to understand fully the perspectives
and facts. (Identify the specific steps in the
investigation process).
Crisis Communication–3
The agency will listen to community
members to understand your frustration
and anger.
 The agency will openly communicate the
findings and results of the investigation.

The Media Message
Use the crisis communication
 Describe what the agency is doing to
promote fair and impartial policing

Prompt Slide
They may run the “bias” story…
 BUT, they may also write about your
agency’s science-based approach to FIP

Leadership and
Organizational Change:
Promoting Fair and Impartial
Policing
To Promote FIP, Your
Organization Might….
Create or revise policies addressing the
use of race and ethnicity (and other
demographics) in law enforcement
decisions and actions
 Promote and facilitate the identification of
biased behavior on the part of your officers
 Revise/expand training and education
about bias within the organization and
perhaps the community

Your Organization Might…
Strengthen the way you communicate your
organization’s values and respond to
allegations of bias from community
members.
 Help personnel to speak effectively and
comfortably about bias when interacting
with individual officers, community
members and the general public.

Leading Change is
Challenging…
In ALL organizations
 In law enforcement organizations, which:

 Are
steeped in tradition
 Are highly bureaucratic
 Have hierarchical command, control and
communications structure
Leading Change: The Basics

A large body of literature—both academic
and popular

John Kotter, Harvard Business School

Leading Change (1996) — 8 Steps
Kotter’s 8 Steps to Leading
Change
Create Urgency
 Form a Powerful Coalition
 Create a Vision for Change
 Communicate the Vision
 Remove Obstacles
 Create Short-Term Wins
 Build on Change
 Anchor FIP in Organizational Culture

Step 1: Create Urgency
Conduct open and honest dialogue about
the bias allegations by engaging
community and law enforcement leaders
and officers
 Describe to your direct reports what would
happen if you did nothing
 Present why “now” is the right time to act.

Step 2: Form a Powerful
Coalition
Key leaders from community and law
enforcement
 Lends credibility to change efforts
 Holds agency accountable
 Continues to build urgency and
momentum around the need for change

Step 3: Create a Vision for
Change
Primary responsibility of the Chief
executive
 Supervisors are key to:

 ensuring
that the vision is supported within
the organization and
 implementing specific actions/steps to
operationalize the change efforts.
What the Vision for Change
Should Do
Articulate how the vision for change
reflects the values of the organization
 Outlines the roles of supervisors and other
members of the organization in
implementing the change
 Identifies the organizational
systems/processes to promote FIP

Step 4: Communicate the
Vision
Communicate at EVERY opportunity
 FIP = the values of the organization
 What specifically the organization is doing
to institutionalize FIP
 Address concerns of peers and direct
reports
 Lead by example: Model the behavior you
expect

Step 5: Remove Obstacles

Identify resistors
 Help
them see what’s needed and why
 Help them see benefits of change

Recognize and reward commitment to FIP
Step 6: Create Short-Term
Wins

Identify short-term wins

What do you want to see or hear about
FIP?
Step 7: Build on Change
Analyze what is going right and what
needs improving
 Set goals to continue building on the
momentum you've achieved
 Keep ideas fresh—expand internal and
community supporters/coalition
 Don’t be “Mission Accomplished!”

Step 8: Anchor FIP in the
Organizational Culture

Supervisor Role:
 Model
FIP
 Communicate commitment to FIP
 Coach/mentor direct reports
 Publicly recognize fair and impartial policing
behavior
 Talk about progress
Leadership Defined
The process of influencing the behavior of
others…
 To achieve organizational goals..
 While developing high performing
individuals, teams, and the organization
for future service

Leadership is Influencing..
Individuals
Organizations
Groups
Leadership Styles

The Transactional Leader

The Transformational Leader
The Transactional Leader
Uses rewards and punishments
 Clarifies roles and responsibilities
 Subordinates’ self-interests are enhanced
when they behave appropriately

 Fair
and impartial behavior leads to safe,
effective and just policing
The Transformational Leader
Inspires subordinates to be fair and
impartial by emphasizing the importance
of it
 Gets subordinates to “transcend” their own
self interests for the sake of the team,
organization, community

Summary of Key Points

All people, even well-intentioned people
have biases
 They

can be “implicit” (unconscious)
Policing based on biases can be unsafe,
ineffective and unjust
Summary of Key Points-2
Biased policing has negative
consequences for community members
and the department
 Biased policing erodes community trust
 Community trust is essential for
cooperation and support of officers and
the department
 Community trust is essential for police
legitimacy

Supervisors’ Responsibilities
Be role models, mentors, representatives
of the department, authorities on
departmental policy, and disciplinarians
 Identify possible manifestations of bias
 Prevent biased behavior and intervene
when indicated
 Discuss biased policing with subordinates
and community

Supervisors are Human Too!
Your decisions may be impacted by
human biases
 Your biases may impact your treatment of
direct reports
 Your biases may impact your policing
decisions

Leadership and Change
Management
Leading change to promote FIP is
challenging
 Apply the 8 steps of leading change to
implement a comprehensive approach to
promote FIP
 Understanding leadership styles can
benefit FIP change efforts

We hope this training…
Better understanding science of human
bias
 Renewed your appreciation of negative
impact
 You learned skills ….will serve you

 In
your role as effective supervisor …
Will help you supervise to promote FIP
 Thank you!!

THANK YOU!