Published June 11, 2020

By MARK SARDELLA

WAKEFIELD — Police Chief Steven Skory was asked to speak at Monday night’s Town Council meeting on the subject of the anti-bias training received by Wakefield police officers. But first, he wanted to address the incident that has sparked anti-police protests around the country.

“When I heard about Mr. (George) Floyd’s death and watched the video, it was crushing,” Skory said. “The actions and inactions of the Minneapolis officers were disgusting. I’ve worked in this profession for a long time and I’ve never seen such disregard for human life. Mr. Floyd’s death is a topic of conversation every day around the police station. When a police officer commits a crime, especially a heinous crime like murder, it’s devastating to honest hard-working police officers. Our officers have been devastated by this tragic incident.

“All of us at the Police Department feel that the trust we share with the community has been damaged,” Skory continued. “The success of any police department is rooted in the trust it shares with the community it serves. Citizens should feel safe and that they are receiving the highest level of police services available from a Police Department that is both fair and accountable to its residents.

“Many of you are familiar with the President’s report on 21st Century Policing, which was published in 2015,” Skory said. “The report established six recommendations or ‘pillars’ for police departments to follow, which included: Building Trust & Legitimacy, Policy & Oversight, Technology and Social Media, Community Policing & Crime Reduction, Training & Education, and Officer Wellness & Safety. The Wakefield Police Department has been practicing these pillars long before the report was issued.

“The Wakefield Police Department has adopted the ‘guardian’ mindset,’” Skory said. “Guardians are members of the community who protect from within. Our commitment to building trust with our community starts with our Mission Statement. Every Wakefield Police Officer receives a copy of our Mission Statement on their first day and is tasked with familiarizing themselves with it. The core values of our Mission Statement include human life, integrity, the laws and Constitution, excellence, accountability, cooperation, problem solving and officer wellness.

“The first value, ‘Human Life,’ states, ‘We value human life and dignity above all else, therefore: We use force only when necessary. We treat all people with courtesy and respect. We are compassionate and caring.’

“When someone interacts with a Wakefield Police officer,” Skory stressed, “they can expect to be treated with respect and dignity. Our officers are professionals who take pride in the quality of their service. That professional service starts with the quality people we hire to wear the WPD uniform. We hire only the most qualified applicants. Ninety-eight percent of our Police Department is college educated, which is reflected in their sound decision making.

As a state certified police agency, the Wakefield Police Department is required to have the most up to date policies which cover crucial areas such as use of force, Skory noted. WPD has officers that are active members of the Wakefield Alliance Against Violence and the Wakefield Human Rights Commission.

“Our officers receive the highest level of training,” Skory said. “We realize there is always room for improvement and we constantly seek out relevant training to improve our skills.

“We have adapted and modified our functions when faced with changing social conditions and public needs,” Skory added. “We have undertaken sincere reform efforts that include community policing, problem-solving, enhanced training in de-escalation, an increased presence in schools and bias-free policing. We collaborate with social and mental health providers and we have a non-criminal response to minor drug misdemeanors and substance abuse disorders. Nothing is perfect, but we certainly are doing our best.”

Chief Skory noted that the six pillars of 21st century policing are now part of the core curriculum at all Basic Recruit Police Academies. There is emphasis on problem solving, procedural justice, ethical decision making and fair and impartial policing.

The problem solving learning objectives, Skory said, involve identifying the best practices for problem solving, identifying the components of procedural justice, (fairness, respect, sincerity and legitimacy) and how to use them for building community trust.

Skory noted that veteran police officers are mandated to attend 40 hours of in-service training every year that includes certain subject matter mandated by the Municipal Police Training Committee.

In-service training for Wakefield officers in 2016-2017 included training on police interaction with youths, Skory reported.

In-service training in 2017-2018 included training on procedural justice and police legitimacy as well as legal review of hate crimes.

Chief Skory noted that all training at both the recruit level and veteran level teach the “SERVE” model for problem solving. The SERVE model stands for Spotting a problem, Ethical decisions, Research facts & develop/execute a plan and evaluate the results.

All officers in both the Police Academy and in-service training are required to have defensive tactics training, Skory told the Town Council. De-escalation has been incorporated into the Defensive Tactics curriculum and all officers receive a refresher course on this each year.

In 2015, some Wakefield Police supervisors completed an on-line course from the International Association of Chiefs of Police called, “Developing a Rapport with Youth.”

In 2015 other supervisors attended a training course entitled, “Fair & Impartial Policing for Supervisors,” taught by Dr. Lorie Fridell, Skory said.

Skory said that the course helped participants to see that even well-intentioned people have biases. It also helped them to understand how unconscious/implicit biases impact what we perceive/see; how biases can impact actions; understand that fair and impartial policing leads to effective policing; and use tools to help the officer recognize conscious or implicit biases and implement controlled or unbiased behavioral responses.

In 2018, Deputy Chief Craig Calabrese attended a conference at Framingham State University titled, “People of Color in the Criminal Justice System,” Skory said. This conference was led by retired officer Dr. Tracie Keesee who was the Deputy Commissioner of the Ethnicity and Inclusion division of the NYPD.

Skory noted that in 2019 and 2020, some Wakefield officers attended a training course called “Behavior Recognition.” This course teaches officers to focus on behavior rather than the characteristics of a person.

In May of 2020, some officers completed an on-line course titled “Fair and Impartial Policing.”

“Most notable of all training is that in 2015, the Wakefield Police Department recognized a need for training in bias due to events that had occurred around the country,” Skory said.

“We contracted with attorney John Scheft, who manages a police training company called Law Enforcement Dimensions, to teach a course to all Wakefield officers on issues of race and understanding bias in law enforcement. Attorney Scheft is a former District Attorney and for the past 20-plus years has been training police officers in various topics. He teaches at the Police Academy as well as veteran officers at in-service training. He has taught and lectured extensively on the subject of racial profiling. Over the course of two dates, Sept. 15 and 23 in 2015, all Wakefield Police officers completed this training course.”

The course focused on the citizen’s perspective, dealing with perceived bias, words and phrases to avoid, dealing with conscious justification, dealing with unconscious/implicit bias, reasonable suspicion, probable cause, suspicious persons – generated from a phone call, suspicious persons – generated from officer observations and identification cases.

In 2019 the Wakefield Police Department invested in a computerized training simulator called MILO, which stands for Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives, to better train officers in de-escalation techniques. This simulator puts officers through multiple real-life scenarios where the officer must interact with on-screen role players. The system allows the officer to experience complex and nuanced scenarios that adapt in real time and the role players respond to the officer’s actions. All de-escalation techniques and force options are on the table during the scenarios.

“We have made a tremendous investment in the training of our officers, Skory said. “We will continue to seek new training to improve our services.”