Madison police are putting a new focus on diversity training in wake of the death of Tony Robinson, an unarmed, 19-year old black man who was shot and killed by an officer earlier this month, according to the department’s training captain.
"There’s been a lot of media attention and public scrutiny of our police department. And to be honest, we understand that and we appreciate that. The community should be asking questions," said Capt. Tom Snyder, a 26-year veteran with the force and captain of department’s training.
For the last several years, Snyder said the police academy devotes 50 hours of instruction related to cultural competence, judgment under the radar, implicit bias and serving the mentally ill. Additionally, each new officer receives an additional 30 hours on "professional communications." He said that the training helps prepare officers for life in the public.
"That’s training where we allow officers to become better at their active listening skills, develop strategies for dealing with difficult circumstances, understanding the barriers to effective communication and so on. Because this is obviously a job where communication is probably the number one skill that we can have," Snyder said.
The department has been working with a University of Wisconsin-Madison doctoral student who leads new officers through a series of implicit bias tests and exercises that challenge officers to identify how those biases affect their policing.
Compared to departments across the country, Snyder said the Madison Police Department is one of the more educated forces. He said every officer in next year’s recruiting class has a bachelor's degree, and about 20 percent have graduate degrees.
"We’re very conscious about who we recruit, how we recruit, and how we train these officers when they come to our department," Snyder said. "It’s not maybe you’re standard police department, but then Madison is not your typical city either."
