Cultural Diversity Training for Police needs positive change…
to truly help the police and their communities. The old-school cultural diversity classes often can be a brow-beating session where the instructor tells the participant how they should treat people in their community.
There are some Academia who have never worked as a ‘beat cop’ or corrections officer that have been teaching ‘implicit bias’ training. This could be a problem, because if you haven’t actually done the job, its hard to really understand the actual pressures that come with the profession. Intellectual verbiage about implicit bias won’t bring cultural change, unless we improve officer wellness first.
“The way we have been teaching cultural diversity to our officers, must change if we expect them to change. If we simplify cultural diversity so they can actually use it on the street and in the correctional facility, change will happen.” says Linda Webb, co-founder of RITE Academy
The NEW cultural diversity training now includes Racial intelligence. Racial intelligence (RI) means that to treat yourself fairly first, and then others. It cannot be done in reverse.
The RI Model is Emotional Intelligence (EI=You) + Social Intelligence (SI= Others) = Racial Intelligence (RI – Bias Free Community)
Racial Intelligence Training and Engagement (RITE) helps the officer FIRST through Emotional Intelligence training (EI). Giving each officer an EI tool to help them identify what their emotions are through Emotional Awareness, and Behavioral Self-Control. We address officer wellness, and the effects of PTSD, FIRST.
RITE addresses ‘implicit bias’ by first asking the question… ‘what are your hot buttons’?
Do you know what makes you mad or ANGRY? Understanding what makes you mad is one of the first steps to recognizing your own implicit bias. Each officer is different, and everyone can have a different implicit bias.
“We are not born with implicit bias, with Love, or with Hate… this is a learned behavior that ebbs and flows throughout your life.” ~ Randy Friedman, RITE Director of Training
Angry Birds can flock together
Do you know someone in your department that walks around angry, blames others, still complaining about how they didn’t get promoted… trying to pull others down with them?
Emotional Intelligence training helps address unwanted, and unprofessional emotions head-on, with RITE EI Tools that the officer can use daily in the field. Identifying immediately what makes you mad, is the first step to correcting that self-destructive behavior.
Imagine everyone in your department when they left roll call, and before they went to their first call to engage with the public was aware of their emotions? Would that make a difference?
What if you could stop the ‘negative banter’ that often times can be destructive behavior within your department
Social Intelligence comes after Emotional Intelligence
Social Intelligence is the second component, it is how we connect with others through the use of empathy communication. Teaching Emotional Intelligence first, and then Social Intelligence is what truly ties RITE into the New cultural diversity training.
If you engage with the public in anger, or your ‘hot button’ is triggered, that can quickly turn into ‘block-out syndrome’. This can be a recipe for disaster as nothing good happens when we feel anger. When officers engage with anger, this can be career-ending for them, while creating distrust in the community and a media nightmare for the department.
It is time that we broke the old mold of cultural diversity creating a refreshing new way to embrace our differences while building a trusting bias-free community.
Racial Intelligence brings a positive dynamic approach to helping each officer by giving them the actual take away tools, and officer wellness mindfulness techniques that they can use on the street, or at home.
The Racial Intelligence Model establishes departmental accountability standards by addressing acceptable emotional behavior while establishing a bias free community where everyone is treated fairly.
About RITE Officer Training – Its starts with helping officers communicate with others more effectively. The RITE Ladder Tool teaches EI & SI that builds Career resiliency, improves Department morale, and mitigates risk. Check EVENTS page for a training near you. Contact us training@riteacademy.com
