Thanks to Campaign Zero, Cincinnati has Egg on its Face

2024-Bias-Free-Policing-Annual-Report New Orleans

NOPD says data shows no racial disparities. We checked it. – Verite News New Orleans

 

I think the problem many people have with the Campaign Zero report on bias-free policing is that, ironically, everyone knows that bias-free policing is not a black & white issue.

It is a “continuous improvement” issue.

A similarly situated police department has done many years of research and has reported on the complexities involved in examining bias-free policing. I am referring to the Annual Reports on Bias-free Policing produced by the New Orleans Police Department.

The NOPD has been producing these reports for a decade. Like Cincinnati, New Orleans was under a consent decree, and they have now had 10 years of documented effort on Bias-Free Policing.

Meanwhile, when it comes to bias-free policing in Cincinnati, the city management and consultants have been caught with egg on their faces. Essentially, the City Manager’s Office dropped the ball.

There is no transparency surrounding what happened to the Collaborative Agreement Refresh which was undertaken in 2017. The Refresh was intended to ensure that the Collaborative Agreement was sustained through a very structured effort at bias-free policing and Community Problem-Oriented Policing. As I have mentioned, there is little, if any, record of efforts on bias-free policing by Cincinnati after 2020.

If Cincinnati had done something similar to New Orleans’s Annual Reports on Bias-free Policing for the past 5 or 6 years, I think it is likely that this Campaign Zero matter would not have happened.

I did a search on Campaign Zero’s website for  anyreports about “New Orleans,” and found “No Results.”

The following quotes are found on pages 1 and 2 of the reportand provide a balanced perspective about  the data.

1. “The evaluation of bias in policing is difficult as statistics cannot show the subjective, or even unconscious, bias that may play a role in the decision making of an officer.”

 

2. “While there is no definitive test for determining the actual bias of an officer, the data can be useful in helping the Department identify trends over time that may need to be addressed through training, policy changes, or other corrective action.”

 

3. “It is important for users of this data to understand that identifying and addressing specific officer misconduct is not the purpose of the audit.”

 

4. “Although NOPD’s current methodology can conclusively identify disparities, it cannot conclusively identify the causes of the disparities, which may or may not include biased police officers or deployment strategies.”

I am not suggesting that the NOPD and their research are perfect but apparently, New Orleans is still under a consent decree and their Annual Reports are a big part of their case seeking to get out from under thje conset decree.