As Lorenzo Davis, a former Chicago police officer put it, \u201cThe code of silence works a lot like a family situation. You cannot tell on your family members. You just know that. No one has to tell you that. If you have a partner, you\u2019re going to back up your partner.\u201d<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/04\/14\/USAT\/c0b7a345-3b05-4c99-b9cb-2a96abb7b94d-AP_George_Floyd_Officer_Trial_4.jpg?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
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In this image from police body cam video, Minneapolis police officers attempt to remove George Floyd from a vehicle, on May 25, 2020, outside Cup Foods in Minneapolis, as it is shown Wednesday, March 31, 2021, during the trial of former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin in the case of Floyd's death, at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis. (Photo: Court TV via AP)<\/span><\/p>\n Changing workplace culture \u2014 whether a police unit, business, or school \u2014 is never easy. There\u2019s usually pushback, at least from some. And it takes more than just identifying \u2014\u00a0and firing \u2014\u00a0a few bad actors. It usually takes inspired leadership and a substantial overhaul to change ethical behavior and convince people not to protect the bad behavior of their friends or coworkers.<\/p>\n Is such a shift possible?\u00a0 In a word, yes.<\/p>\n Several airplane crashes in the 1970s were attributed to crewmembers\u2019 failure to challenge bad decision-making by the pilot. \u00a0Researchers probed the psychological factors that prompted the crew to defer to the pilot and recommended some fundamental changes in training procedures within the aviation industry. Airlines began using a NASA-developed program known as Cockpit Resource Management, which is widely credited with making flying substantially safer.<\/p>\n So what would a similar overhaul look like for the police?<\/p>\n One of the best examples of how police department culture can change \u2014 not overnight, but over time \u2014 can be found in the New Orleans Police Department. This department was the target of a number of lawsuits over the years, stemming from incidents in which officers were accused of planting evidence, shooting unarmed people, and covering up their own criminal actions. Public trust in the police force was abysmal.<\/p>\n USA TODAY’s Eileen Rivers: <\/strong>Is Chauvin guilty verdict a guarantee? It should be, but Black America knows why it’s not<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n In 2014 a new police superintendent, Michael S. Harrison, was brought in to change the culture of the department. He started by introducing a new training program, developed by police officers with the support of Ervin Staub, a legendary social psychologist whose career has focused on the factors that help overcome bystander inaction.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n The program,\u00a0known as Ethical Policing is Courageous (EPIC),\u00a0focuses on changing the norms that undergirded the culture of loyalty and silence \u2014 ignoring bad behavior by fellow officers \u2014 to one of protecting them by preventing unethical behavior from occurring. EPIC teaches officers how to become active bystanders who intervene if they see fellow officers engaging in bad behavior, whether it\u2019s lying on a report, planting evidence, or kneeling on someone\u2019s neck. \u201cIf you can teach someone to put on a bulletproof vest and you can teach them how to round a corner, you can teach someone to more effectively intervene,\u201d says Jonathan Aronie, a lawyer who helped developed the EPIC program in New Orleans.<\/p>\n Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the judge on April 15, 2021. (Photo: Court TV via AP)<\/span><\/p>\n Most importantly, the EPIC program teaches officers that loyalty does not mean joining in on\u00a0\u2014\u00a0or ignoring\u00a0\u2014\u00a0bad behavior. It means trying to prevent it. \u201cActive bystandership is contagious,\u201d says New Orleans Deputy Superintendent\u00a0 Paul Noel. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to resist an outspoken co-worker who is intent on doing the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Police departments across the country are facing a fundamental choice:\u00a0maintain an institutional culture that enables bad behavior or shift department norms. And the good news\u00a0\u2014\u00a0for police departments that want to make such change\u00a0\u2014\u00a0is that help is available.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Active Bystandership in Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project at Georgetown University builds on EPIC\u00a0and years of academic research\u00a0to deliver practical training for police departments interested in creating a law enforcement culture that encourages active intervention over silence and inaction.<\/p>\n Communities desperate to prevent future tragedies have an option.\u00a0Instead of abolishing the police, they can demand meaningful reform.\u00a0As Christy Lopez, who led the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division\u2019s negotiations with the Ferguson Police Department after the shooting of Michael Brown and now co-leads Georgetown Law\u2019s Innovative Policing Program, puts it, the choice is really \u201ca no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n As we take\u00a0in Tuesday’s verdict, it\u00a0is worth remembering that Derek Chauvin had 17 complaints filed against him during his 19 years with the Minneapolis Police Department. He served as the field training officer to two of the other officers present at the time of Floyd\u2019s arrest \u2014\u00a0and death. It\u2019s time we picked new and better trainers, who can lead the way in developing and modeling a new set of norms, and educate and empower all officers to become \u201cactive bystanders,\u201d even when that requires intervening in actions committed by a senior officer.<\/p>\n Our police officers \u2014 and our communities \u2014\u00a0deserve nothing less.<\/p>\nWe can teach good policing<\/h2>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2021\/04\/20\/USAT\/16fc1aab-0dda-43c7-acb1-b35cf316ffdf-chauvin.jpg?width=540&height=&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
<\/p>\nReform, don’t abolish police<\/h2>\n