Recruits with the Connecticut State Police Training Academy and the POST Training Academy were challenged to look inward at their own implicit biases during diversity training this week in Meriden.
“My expectation from this group is to create an uncomfortable learning environment so that they can learn and grow,” said Lt. Eric Murray, a commanding officer at the State Police Training Academy.
“Trying to get things to slow down a little bit. Think a little slower. Think about why you feel about the person you’re talking to. Why does that person make you feel anxious, why does that person make you feel happy? Why does this person make you feel sad? Get those things from the unconscious mind into the conscious mind. That’s the process. How we get to that will be multi-faceted,” said Chief Justice Richard Robinson, for the state of Connecticut.
State Police have undergone diversity training for more than 30 years, but this is the first time they have partnered with community organizations to provide additional training and insight, according to Lt. Murray.
Dedication to Community (D2C) and the Connecticut Center for Non-Violence provided the training to 84 state police recruits and their instructors.
“We’re excited to hear their message and to help bridge the gap between their message and our folks so that we can better serve the state of Connecticut,” Murray said.
D2C’s message was about building relationships with the community.
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“We’re here to teach them the significance of building substantive, successful and sustainable relationships. How do you build those relationships proactively rather than reactively,” said M. Quentin Williams, the founder and CEO of Dedication to Community (D2C).
The training covers diversity, community relations, procedural justice and implicit bias.
More than 850 troopers across the state will undergo the same training later in the fall at their annual in-service.
