The University of Colorado Boulder Police Department is embarking on training CUPD officers in tactics aimed at reducing unnecessary harm to community members while increasing satisfaction with police, joining a select group of about 215 police departments nationwide committed to transformational police reform.
CUPD was selected to be part of the (Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement) Project through the Georgetown University Law Center. ABLE training is designed to help first responders do a better job of identifying police misconduct in peers and to intervene when necessary. ABLE鈥檚 board of advisors, made up of civil rights, social justice and law enforcement leaders, reviews program applications and grants inclusion to the training.
鈥淭his type of training will give our officers the tools they need to intervene in one another鈥檚 actions if needed,鈥� said Assistant Vice Chancellor for Public Safety and Chief of Police Doreen Jokerst. CUPD worked with the Denver Police Department on its application to the program and continues to receive support from DPD for initial training.
During a time when police agencies are faced with lawsuits and costly verdicts for proven misconduct, agencies view this training as practical and necessary.
CUPD Training Sergeant Brian Brown says CUPD鈥檚 early adoption of ABLE Project is par for the course for the agency. 鈥淲e are always committed to being early adopters of progressive police training such as the ABLE Project, which we feel enhances our culture and is in line with other training we鈥檝e embraced, including , which we also adopted early on,鈥� Brown said.
The ABLE Project was launched in June 2020, shortly after the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer and is modeled after other national programs that have successfully targeted issues with active bystandership, such as drunk driving. ABLE is not a reporting program, but rather is focused on in-the-moment intervention.
Officers learn about the legal duty to intervene if they observe a fellow officer infringing on certain constitutional rights of citizens. Further, they learn how to voice their concerns and take immediate action to prevent fellow officers 鈥� or even superiors 鈥� from causing harm.
Members of both the campus and wider Boulder community wrote letters of support urging the ABLE Project board to consider CUPD for selection in the training.听
Student government leader Kavya Kannan (2021-22), who was instrumental in creating the Community Oversight Review Board to help increase accountability and transparency in policing, wrote, 鈥淭he ABLE Project is an incredible opportunity for CUPD to deepen its investment in its officers, dually adding accountability and making a commitment to better protecting and serving the entire campus.鈥�
Reverend Mary Kate Rejouis, who serves as campus chaplain at nearby St. Aidan鈥檚 Episcopal Church, said that CUPD鈥檚 efforts in training officers to be active bystanders shows forward-thinking leadership. 鈥淭heir willingness to work hard on overcoming possible abuses of power and bias is an asset to the whole community,鈥� she wrote, adding, 鈥淚n a world that needs people to stand up for a common good, they鈥檙e leading the way to show all of us how to be active bystanders.鈥�
And Dan Jones, 兔子先生传媒文化作品鈥檚 assistant vice chancellor of integrity, safety and compliance, lent his support for CUPD鈥檚 acceptance into the program, writing, 鈥淐hief Jokerst is a leader in police reform, training, and innovation. I steadfastly support that her department will adhere to the 10 ABLE standards.鈥�
Jokerst said she is grateful for the support as her department embarks on the training, which has led to groundbreaking reform in police departments around the nation. 鈥淲e want to thank our community partners who assisted us in our application. We see the ABLE Project as being directly aligned with our vision and mission at CUPD.鈥�
So far, 17 CUPD officers have been trained in ABLE Project standards. CUPD hopes to have all of its officers ABLE-trained in the coming months.
