Minneapolis — The American Psychological Association has passed a wide-ranging resolution on policing that seeks to expand training programs to include de-escalation techniques, build stronger relations with mental health service agencies, minimize targeting of people of lower socioeconomic status and encourage officers to restrict when they use force.
APA’s governing Council of Representatives passed the Resolution on Psychology’s Role in Addressing the Impact of, and Change Required with Police Use of Excessive Force Against People of Color and Other Marginalized Communities in the United States by a vote of 165-1, with 2 abstentions on Wednesday. The council was meeting in Minneapolis to coincide with APA2022, the association’s annual convention.
In adopting the resolution, the Council noted it “is tied directly to psychology’s significant potential to contribute to the dismantling of racism and the promotion of racial equity, by helping to remediate conditions and situations that engage individual, systemic, and institutional sources of racism.”
“The overarching goal of this resolution is to promote the safety, health, well-being, and fulfillment of the human rights of those community members who are most vulnerable—Black Americans and other people of color, and members of other marginalized communities who are affected by excessive use of force—and those who work in law enforcement,” it states.
The resolution cites research indicating that most incidents where police have used excessive force have targeted people of color and occurred in marginalized and under-resourced communities where systemic racism and other forms of discriminatory power imbalances have long been present. These actions have been found to have a “demonstrable and devastating impact” on communities, especially children, according to the resolution.
The resolution commits APA to “advocate for the development, implementation, and evaluation of empirically rooted, culturally informed policies, programs, and practices that eliminate the use of excessive force by police against people of color and other marginalized communities” and “for law enforcement standards and practices within police departments to reduce the detrimental impact of police misconduct and use of excessive force, and to promote a healthy relationship between police officers and their communities.”
Other areas where APA committed to support research and collaboration with police and communities include:
- Police-civilian relations in the aftermath of police-inflicted trauma to develop interventions that promote repair.
- Police functions that may be more effectively carried out by others.
- Training that encompasses implicit bias, cultural humility and anti-racism.
- Training that engages de-escalation strategies when interacting with individuals with developmental disabilities, mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and in communities that have been historically traumatized by interaction with law enforcement.
- Strategies for promoting repair and establishing legitimacy between police and historically marginalized communities.
- Community policing practices such as community engagement or collaborative problem-solving with community members.