Justice Department to Begin Implicit Bias Training

The Department of Justice will train 33,000 agents and prosecutors in unconscious bias prevention, according to Reuters.

The training program will focus on reducing implicit biases among federal law enforcement agents in an effort to curtail unintentional racial profiling.

In the wake of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown by a white police officer in Missouri, the department recommended similar training for police departments across the nation.

“This program has been so well-received by our state and local counterparts, we thought it was something we should be offering to our federal agents, frankly, to get our own house in order,” Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates told Reuters.

Arrest data from police departments nationwide shows that people of color are far more likely to be stopped by police, suggesting that officers may be using implicit bias when deciding whom to apprehend.

The Justice Department will conduct the trainings according to a model developed by the former director of the Police Executive Research Forum, an organization which provides expertise on policing issues.

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