With policing being more closely observed since the recent events in Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore, Md., and in New York City, Riley County Police Department Director Brad Schoen told county commissioners Thursday morning that he’s taken preemptive measures to make sure community trust is strong.
Schoen said his department took part in training last month that addressed the topic of fair and impartial policing. It was led by Dr. Lorie Fridell, former Director of Research at the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), who is a national expert on racially biased policing. She is an author and co-author on the topic in a number published works and an associate professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of South Florida. She is a keynote speaker at conferences on the topic and is a consultant and trainer for many police agencies around the country that includes police departments in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“I thought it went pretty well,” Schoen told commissioners. “It encouraged us as an organization and a police department.”
Schoen said Fridell spoke on race, perception and stereotypes in both emotional and scientific terms pertaining to what the brain does and doesn’t recognize for each individual.
He said he was grateful to be able to book her and that if any department were to schedule a workshop with her now, it would have to wait till September of next year.
“She’s kind of a big deal,” he said. “She’s been in a number of professional magazines in terms of what her thinking is in how to address this issue, and for us here in Manhattan and Riley County to make sure it doesn’t become an issue for us locally, here, which is why we’re doing all this.
“Not to say we don’t have some things we need to pay attention to, but that’s good, because that was the purpose of the whole thing.”
Schoen said the training cost the department roughly $4,500.
In other items, Riley County Extension Director Jennifer Wilson told commissioners her office is again ready to help citizens who are ready to transition to Medicare.
“This is the once a year opportunity for Medicare beneficiaries to change their prescription drug plan,” she said. “When you transition from insurance you’ve had a work for 20, 30, 40 years, to Medicare, it’s a very different system.”
Wilson said open enrollment began Thursday and goes till Dec. 7. Appointments to learn more about Medicare can be made by calling the extension office at 785-537-6350.
