The path to cultural competence, an attribute that is increasingly important in police/community relations, starts with an understanding of others’ life experiences, according to Julie Carasone, a certified instructor in areas designed to bridge societal gaps and foster civic unity.
Speaking at the Genesee County Police Reform and Reinvention Collaborative meeting on Monday night via Zoom videoconferencing, Carasone said her role is to get people to “think outside of the box and think about things other than your world.”
“… Understand that your lived experiences are different from my lived experiences and that’s OK, but understand where someone is trying to come from when they interact maybe with the police department, when they interact with mental health or with somebody at GCASA (Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse),” she said.
Carasone took about 20 minutes to present implicit bias awareness training to the committee, which is convening on a regular basis in response to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Executive Order 203 mandating that municipal police agencies adopt policies and procedures that ensure racial equality.
While acknowledging people’s sensitivity to the subject, Carasone emphasized that everyone has some type of implicit bias – thoughts and tendencies developed over a lifetime.
She said that implicit biases are activated involuntarily.
“Our brain is hardwired to take little bits and pieces, and that forms our biases,” she said. “It can be favorable bias, such as toward our military, and sometimes police officers, but nowadays it’s sometimes not favorable.”
MEDIA IS CRAFTING THE NARRATIVE
She said that currently the media is dominating the narrative and reinforcing people’s associations.
“This is the biggest thing right now – media -- both social media and regular print media or TV,” she said. “Sometimes the news organizations get the most ignorant person that’s out there and they’ll put them on TV, and that causes our biases toward someone.”
Calling it “confirmation bias,” Carasone said this causes the brain to favor information that conforms to a person’s existing beliefs and discounts evidence that does not conform.
“(Whether it’s) FOX News or CNN or a certain newspaper, or pro-life, pro-choice, pro-gun or anti-gun, they (people) will seek out information that confirms those biases,” she said.
Carasone said that steps to overcome implicit biases include:
- Check your Blind Spot: We all have implicit bias. Refusing to acknowledge or accept that you have bias creates a blind spot.
- Play Devil’s Advocate: Seek out information that would contradict your initial thoughts. Listen to others that have a different lived experiences than you.
- Avoid the Ostrich Effect: It can be uncomfortable to talk about unpleasant facts that drive negative emotions. Don’t let your discomfort cause you to stick your head in the sand.
- Opinion vs. Fact: When you are stuck in a disagreement with someone, avoid opinions and use facts -- fair, data-driven information. Remember “Your opinion is not fact.”
WORDS MAKE A DIFFERENCE
She also said the words that people use indicate how people look at others, and suggested replacing “addict” with “individual with a substance use disorder” or “criminal” with “justice involved individual.”
On the latter, Carasone said that 4 percent of the people in jail or prison are innocent.
“And that’s just the people that we know,” she added.
Carasone said that implicit bias does not equal racism but, when applied to a group of people, it becomes the foundation of racism.
She said racism is evident at different levels – individual, institutional and structural – and can be directed at a person’s gender, race, religion or economic status.
Policies, practices and procedures that make discriminate against certain classes of people – “usually what we call redlining,” Carasone said – can be mitigated, but it takes a commitment from both individuals and organizations to effect positive change.
“How can your organization mitigate implicit biases in your services in staffing and polices?” she asked. “Become culturally competent. Make policy and procedural changes that will provide equity for the underserved population.”
“That means taking a big look at what we’re doing right now, and looking at your strategic plan. What are your strengths and what are your barriers and your weaknesses that need to be improved upon?”
Carasone defined cultural competence as the ability to understand, communicate with and effectively interact with people across cultures.
MANY LAYERS WHEN IT COMES TO CULTURE
“Culture is like an iceberg. You have the top part where you can see on the outside – our clothes, our language, and so forth -- and the things that we don’t see,” such as background, talents, likes, dislikes, traditions, she said.
Using herself as an example, she mentioned that she is from a military family, that she lived in poverty and below poverty and, “me opening up, you can’t tell that I had a mental illness as well. So, there are a lot more layers that you can’t see underneath.”
She promoted a brainstorming exercise that focuses on cultural awareness, knowledge and sensitivity, and emphasized the many benefits of cultural competence, such as building healthier families and communities, and increasing productivity and revenue at all the levels of commerce.
Carasone said plans call for her to provide implicit bias awareness training – on a volunteer basis -- to all Genesee County Sheriff’s Department personnel as well as to the City of Batavia Police Department and Wyoming County Sheriff’s Department.
In response to a question from committee members about language barriers, Undersheriff Brad Mazur said the sheriff’s department recognizes contracts with a company that provides an 800 number through dispatch to provide translation when necessary, such as in traffic stops, criminal proceedings and emergency situations.
Carasone said it is preferable to get a live interpreter on the line instead of using an online application (app) due to the fact that some words may not be translated correctly. She said interpreters are trained extensively to properly interact in these situations and also have received cultural competence education.
