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Israeli Researchers Train U.S. Police in Respectful Communication

(Ha'aretz) Itay Mashiach - Researchers, led by Prof. David Weisburd, a Hebrew University of Jerusalem criminologist, conducted an intensive, 40-hour training course for police officers in Houston, Tucson, and Cambridge, Mass., focusing on making the interaction between the police and the citizenry fair and dignified. The officers learn how to project empathy and suspend judgment, demonstrate attentiveness, and transmit a correct message via a look, a nod of the head, posture and tone. They were taught about working with minority populations and about methods for building trust. Then the officers were assigned to high-crime areas and their work was monitored for nine months. Weisburd, a recipient of the Israel Prize for his research in crime and policing, said, "We changed the officers' behavior....We [also] saw a decrease of 60% in arrests." Surveys conducted in the areas where the officers were stationed found that the public harbored a more positive attitude toward the police. There was also a 14% decline in crime incidents in these areas.
2022-07-28 00:00:00
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