Representatives from LSU and Baton Rouge Community College shared the latest research on implicit bias, promotion and recruitment, community policing, and mental health. These proposals will be merged into a policy paper headed to the Metro Council for approval, said councilwoman Tara Wicker, a founder of the committee.
"We want to be successful in what we do," Wicker said. "The information that they're presenting is just phenomenal."
Committee co-founder Councilman Trae Welch, however, reminded the committee of the two sides of community policing.
"I'd just like us to remember the deputy that lost his life, that we recognize exactly what we're talking about and how it affects all of the community members, including the police officers," Welch said, referring to the March 18 death of Shawn Anderson while he was trying to question a rape suspect.
Chief Carl Dabadie Jr. said sometimes his officers feel they're being unfairly attacked by critics, but residents at Tuesday's meeting said they're often fearful of what might happen when they're pulled over by police.
Wicker said this dichotomy is the reason the committee's recommendations are so important.
Bridget Sonnier-Hillis, an assistant professor of psychology at BRCC, spoke about implicit bias on the part of law enforcement.
"It's about becoming aware of them, learning about them, and, more importantly, developing different policies for when they're more likely to be acted upon," Sonnier-Hillis said. "These protocols that are ways to outsmart these implicit biases."
She said these biases most likely emerge in fast-paced situations, often those police officers face.
She recommended a new training used by the federal government, something Dabadie said he is already working to bring to his department.
BRCC criminal justice professor Paul Guidry spoke about ideas for a citizen review board for internal affairs and a citizens academy, where civilians can learn what it's like to work in the police force.
Jared Llorens, director of the LSU Public Administration Institute, shared the problems BRPD faces in managing its officers.
"(BRPD) is about 30 years behind in the field of managing employees," Llorens said, while Dabadie nodded. State civil service laws govern how Dabadie and his department are hired, promoted or fired; any changes would have to come from the legislature, the chief said.
"You have a system where managers cannot manage," Llorens said. "You have to give them some type of discretion to do their job."
He also talked about the low starting salary for an officer, $32,000 a year, which he said will not attract the "best and brightest."
Also, Sonnier-Hillis discussed how police should be trained to deal with people who are mentally ill, and how officers should also be treated while they perform one of the hardest jobs.
She recommend a Crisis Intervention Team training, which Dabadie said they already implemented in part. Sonnier-Hillis suggested having a trained leader on every shift and making sure that person goes out on calls that deal with mental health.
Representatives from Southern University will later share their ideas on community policing and community engagement.
Wicker founded the committee at the end of 2016 with Welch in the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Alton Sterling and the later ambush killing of three law enforcement officers and injuring of three others.
Dabadie was receptive to the ideas.
"A lot of the things they're talking about we already do," Dabadie said. "We're always open to be better; we're always open to improve the way that we do our jobs. … I'm not opposed to listening to what everyone has to say and incorporating what we can."
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