DOJ Mandates ‘Implicit Bias’ Training for Federal Agents

The Justice Department said at least 33,000 prosecutors and federal agents will now receive mandatory training to help curb the influence of unconscious bias on law-enforcement choices. Police departments nationwide have begun implementing the bias-prevention training after protests have followed a recent onslaught of publicized instances of white police officers shooting unarmed black men. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said the program—to be rolled out over the next year—targets “implicit biases.” She added, “But implicit bias also presents unique challenges to effective law enforcement, because it can alter where investigators and prosecutors look for evidence and how they analyze it without their awareness or ability to compensate.” Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, called the training an “imperative step forward.” But, he added, “Training alone will not eradicate discrimination in prosecutions and policing.”