Implicit Bias Training for Law Enforcement: Current State of the Field

The social psychologists who study bias and prejudice accidentally discovered implicit bias in the late 1980s. We learned from these social scientists that implicit bias is different from explicit bias and that even well-intentioned people have implicit biases that can affect their perceptions and behavior. This recognition‒that there are two ways (not just one) that bias/prejudice could manifest in law enforcement officers‒led to the development and implementation of implicit bias training (IBT).

The purpose of this webinar is to report on the current state of implicit bias training within the law enforcement arena. Dr. Fridell will describe the content and form of high-quality IBT, share what we know about the effectiveness of such training, and report on common myths. She will also share what chiefs and sheriffs need to do to support and promote impartial policing in their agencies beyond merely providing IBT for their sworn personnel. It is important for individuals who provide oversight for police agencies to understand the various elements of the “comprehensive program to produce fair and impartial policing” so that they can ensure that the agencies they monitor are implementing promising practices in the realm of recruitment/hiring, policy, training, leadership/supervision, measurement, operations and outreach to diverse communities.

Join us for this webinar on Wednesday, January 19, 2021 from 2-3:30 PM EST

Lorie Fridell

Dr. Lorie Fridell is a Professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida (USF)in Tampa, FL. Prior to joining USF in August of 2005, she served for six years as the Director of Research at the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). Dr. Fridell has over 30 years of experience conducting research on law enforcement. Her research and other endeavors have been supported by over $7.5 million in grants, primarily from the US Department of Justice. Her primary research areas are police use of force, police deviance and violence against police. She has written articles, chapters and books on these and other topics.

Dr. Fridell is a national expert on biased policing and implicit bias training. Publications on these topics include academic articles, such as “Explaining the disparity in results across studies assessing disparity in police use of force” (2017) and “Racial aspects of police shootings: Reducing both bias and counter bias” (2016). Fridell has additionally written several books on biased policing—the most recent of which is Producing bias-free policing: A science-based approach (2017). With national experts on the science of implicit bias and funding from the US Department of Justice, Fridell developed the Fair and Impartial Policing (FIP) training program.