I’m not certain what this actually means, but it seems to be working:
In a wide-ranging interview this week, [Philadelphia] Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said he hoped that the trend reflected the department’s shake-up in training and tactics, which range from adopting a “statement on the sanctity of human life” to emphasizing “reality-based” weapons training for officers.
Fatal police-involved shootings are down 75 percent. It could be a statistical fluke, but going from 16 to 12 to 3 (in 2010, 2011, & 2012) after actually doing something makes me think the drop is real.
It’s the “reality-based training for officers” that intrigues me. Anybody know what it is? I suspect it does not start with the assumption that police officers set out to kill black people. I don’t mean that glibly. I mean that in the way there are ways to reduce officer-involved shootings. And it comes through training that focuses on tactics and danger, not race.
Update: Another good story, this one about Richmond, CA (thanks to Campbell).
See also, Richmond, CA. For you east coasters, Richmond is Bay Area, a bit north of Oakland and basically a smaller version of Oakland crimewise.
mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_26482765/use-deadly-force-by-police-disappears-richmond-streets
Reality based training means more role playing using red man suits, simmunitions, and sometimes those big simulators. Which really have gotten much better. They're expensive, but they have huge amount of wrap around in the views, the people on the screen actually react to the taser strike, getting shot, and so on.
All those more interactive trainings allow for a bit of stress to be induced and the ability to critique and evaluate an entire scenario from approach, verbal commands, use of force, etc.