The Denver Police Department has joined Georgetown University Law Center’s Active Bystander for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project, DPD announced Tuesday.
The ABLE Project is a national training initiative for law enforcement agencies to develop peer intervention, giving officers tools to intervene when other officers act inappropriately.
“For years, the Denver Police Department has required officers to intervene should they witness another officer using inappropriate force or mistreating an individual,” said Paul Pazen, Denver Chief of Police.
“This training will ensure they have the skills to effectively navigate those types of situations and reduce the use of force.”
The ABLE Project was developed by Georgetown’s Innovative Policing Program, in collaboration with Sheppard Mullin LLP, to provide strategies for officers to prevent misconduct, reduce mistakes and promote health and wellness.
Professor Christy Lopez, co-director of Georgetown Law’s Innovative Policing Program, said the project aims to transform the culture of policing.
“The ABLE Project seeks to … help agencies transform their approach to policing by building a culture that supports and sustains successful peer intervention to prevent harm,” Lopez said.
DPD is one of 30 law enforcement agencies and training academies in the country to join the ABLE Project.
Community leaders that have backed DPD’s participation in ABLE include Together Colorado, the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance, Independent Monitor Nicholas Mitchell and Executive Director of the Department of Safety Murphy Robinson.
“Intervening in another’s action is harder than it looks after the fact, but it’s a skill we all can learn,” said Jonathan Aronie, chair of the ABLE Project Board of Advisors. “And, frankly, it’s a skill we all need – police and non-police. ABLE teaches that skill.”
Over the next few months, all DPD officers will receive eight hours of active bystander training. DPD instructors will begin certification as ABLE trainers this week.
The ABLE Project Board of Advisors is comprised of social justice and law enforcement leaders, including Vanita Gupta, president of the Leadership Council on Civil and Human Rights, Commissioner Michael Harrison of the Baltimore Police Department and Dr. Ervin Staub, founder of the Psychology of Peace and Justice Program at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
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