Does Implicit Bias Training Work? Determining the Impact of Implicit Bias Training

This conference workshop presentation discusses findings from the first systematic, large-scale study exploring the impact of implicit bias training on officers' perceptions, attitudes, knowledge, and behavior. To reduce potential bias and enhance police-community relations, agencies have increasingly turned to implicit bias training. Training officers in implicit bias however, in the absence of evidence of its effectiveness. Police executives discuss the implementation of this training, along with the practical and policy issues that inevitably result from research findings. The presentations also discuss both the benefits and difficulties of delivering and evaluating implicit bias training, and their experiences developing evidence-based practices.

Tanya Meisenholder

Deputy Commissioner for Equity and Inclusion, New York City Police Department

Tanya Meisenholder is the Deputy Commissioner, Equity and Inclusion for the New York City Police Department.  In this role, she ensures all employees of the diverse NYPD are given a full and clear voice in the Department, are treated with dignity and respect, and enjoy a fair, safe, inclusive, and accommodating workplace. A multi-faceted approach that uses research and policy development; proactive training; review and provision of reasonable accommodations; ensuring compliance with policy and regulations; and impartial investigation of alleged violations of Equal Employment Opportunity regulations provides all employees an opportunity to perform their jobs without barriers to success. The Office of Equity and Inclusion also ensures compliance with city, state, and federal regulations related to accessibility of Police Department facilities by members of the disabled community. Deputy Commissioner Meisenholder began her career with the NYPD in 2007 and has served in various key roles throughout her career including intelligence and analysis, project management, policy development, long term strategic planning, and research and evaluation. Deputy Commissioner Meisenholder has enjoyed a career in criminal justice for more than 20 years. Prior to the NYPD, she worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; the Birmingham, Alabama Police Department; Schenectady, Albany, and Troy, NY Police Departments and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. Deputy Commissioner Meisenholder holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Louisiana State University, a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Criminal Justice from the State University of New York at Albany. 

Benjamin Tucker

First Deputy Commissioner, New York City Police Department

Benjamin B. Tucker -- First Deputy Commissioner, New York Police Department Benjamin B. Tucker began his career with the New York City Police Department in 1969 as a Police Trainee. As one of a select group of trainees he received specialized training from medical and substance abuse experts to participate in the first NYPD sponsored school-based drug prevention education program. Tucker became a Police Officer in 1972 and was promoted to Sergeant in 1987. During his 22 years with the NYPD, Tucker performed a wide range of uniform and plain clothes assignments, as well as police academy instructor, legal advisor in the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters; and Assistant Director of the Civilian Complaint Review Board. Tucker continued his public service as a senior executive under Mayor Edward I. Koch, serving as the Deputy Assistant Director for Law Enforcement Services in the Mayor's Office of Operations, and First Deputy Commissioner and Executive Director of the Commission on Human Rights.  Tucker also served as Chief of Operations in the Office of the Manhattan Borough President, and in the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg as Chief Executive for School Safety and Planning for the Department of Education. In 1995, President William Jefferson Clinton appointed Tucker Deputy Director for Operations in the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services at the United States Department of Justice. In 2009, Tucker was nominated by President Barack H. Obama, and confirmed by the United States Senate, as the Deputy Director for State, Local and Tribal Affairs within the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Prior to joining the Justice Department Tucker implemented and directed research demonstration projects at the Substance Abuse Strategy Initiative at New York University and the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. These projects were designed to evaluate the effectiveness of post incarceration services for formerly incarcerated substance abusers re-entering society and the provision of services for pre-adolescents at-risk of getting involved in drugs and crime. His unique blend of law enforcement, criminal justice policy expertise and academic experience led to Tucker's return to the NYPD as Deputy Commissioner of Training during Police Commissioner William J. Bratton's reengineering of the Department in 2014. Proving to be a valued member of the executive staff, Tucker was sworn in as the 43rd First Deputy Commissioner and entrusted to direct several bureaus, including Personnel, Training, Criminal Justice, Risk Management, Department Advocate, Trials, and Labor Relations.  Tucker earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, a Juris Doctor degree from Fordham University School of Law while working as a police officer, and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Pace University where he is a tenured professor. 

Robert Worden

Director, John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety

Robert E. Worden is the director of the John F. Finn Institute for Public Safety, and associate professor of criminal justice at the University at Albany. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Professor Worden is the coauthor of two books: Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy (University of California Press, 2017), and The Power to Arrest: Lessons from Research (Springer, 2019). As a member of the National Research Council's Committee to Review Research on Police Policies and Practices, he contributed to its report, Fairness and Effectiveness in Policing: The Evidence (National Academies Press, 2004). His scholarship has also appeared in numerous academic journals. Professor Worden has served on the New York State Law Enforcement Accreditation Council since 2001. In 2018, Professor Worden was recognized by the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences Police Section with the O.W. Wilson Award for outstanding contributions to police education, research, and practice.

Lorie Fridell, PhD

Professor, University of South Florida

Dr. Fridell, a professor of Criminology at the University of South Florida, is a national expert on biased policing. Publications on this topic include three books, the most recent of which is Promoting Bias-Free Policing:  A Science-Based Approach. Recent articles include 'Assessing the racial aspects of police force using the implicit-bias and counter-bias perspectives,'  'Explaining the disparity in results across studies assessing disparity in police use of force,' 'Racial aspects of police shootings: Reducing both bias and counter bias.' She speaks nationally on the topic of biased policing and provides consultation and training to law enforcement agencies.  With national experts on the psychology of implicit bias and funding from the US Department of Justice, she developed the 'Fair and Impartial Policing' training program (see www.fipolicing.com). This training is in great demand in North America and has been featured in the New York Times, PBS News Hour, CBS Sunday Morning, Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, Mother Jones, and other outlets.  She taught previously at the University of Nebraska and Florida State University. She has received five university-level teaching awards.    

Robin S. Engel, PhD

Senior Vice President

National Policing Institute

Robin S. Engel, PhD has recently accepted a new position as Senior Vice President at the National Policing Institute following a 25-year career in academia at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Penn State University. She previously served as UC’s Vice President for Safety and Reform (2015-2019), where her duties included oversight of daily operations and implementation of comprehensive police reforms in the aftermath of a fatal police shooting by campus police of an unarmed motorist. Throughout her career, Dr. Engel has engaged in research designed to reduce harm in communities, make police-citizen encounters safer, and promote best practices through academic-practitioner partnerships. She was the Principal Investigator of over 90 research projects and was ranked among the top academics in criminal justice/criminology based on publications in prestigious peer-reviewed journals. She leads research teams implementing and evaluating violence reduction, police training, and police reform initiatives across dozens of cities, along with large-scale evaluations of local and state-mandated police reforms.

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Does Implicit Bias Training Work? Determining the Impact of Implicit Bias Training Conference Workshop Presentation
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IACP Credit Hours and Certificate of Attendance
1.00 IACP Credit Hours credit  |  Certificate available
1.00 IACP Credit Hours credit  |  Certificate available