NCJ Number
182110
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2000 Pages: 62-66
Date Published
April 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Establishing an anti-bias culture within a police department ensures that all citizens are protected equally, especially since police officers often set the tone for how people treat each other in the community.
Abstract
In the context of hate crime prevention, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recommends that police officers exemplify the values of tolerance and peaceful conflict resolution and that any bias behavior by police officers should be dealt with swiftly, equitably, and severely. The IACP also advises that police leaders fully understand the culture of their departments. Every member of the police department, from dispatchers to officers, needs to know how to recognize signs of bias within the ranks and at the crime scene. Police officer training in hate crime prevention is essential, and the Bureau of Justice Assistance has created a roll-call video on hate crimes and has distributed it to 16,000 police departments throughout the United States to facilitate training. In addition, training materials are available from the National Center for Hate Crimes Prevention Education Development Center. Ways of dealing with bias behavior by police officers are noted.