911 operators work against racial bias
Our 911 operators are getting a new training on countering racial bias from callers. For example, if someone sees a group of Black youths in a park, and calls in to report that “gang members are in the park”, operators are learning to make a decision whether to convey this biased observation to police. This new training involves, among other things, asking a few more questions (“Why do you think they’re gang members?” maybe) before pre‑biasing the police call.
To add: CTV covered the same story a few days later.
denpanosekai 11:00 on 2022-12-06 Permalink
my wife was called homophobic by a 911 operator because multiple men were coming in and out of a car parked illegally in front of a neighbor’s driveway at 3AM. This was at the peak of a busy car break-in wave last summer. The cops showed up at 8AM. Useless, all of them.
Ephraim 13:03 on 2022-12-06 Permalink
This bias exists in so many ways… we see it in the news all the time… do they call them teenagers, kids, youths? What is the difference between them? We have synonyms with values to them… so is grit good or bad? Is that guts, moxie, tenacity, backbone, doggedness, resolution, toughness? So is that a gang a clan, a tribe, a clique, a bunch, a party, a crowd, a circle, a club, a zoo or a horde? It’s so easy to convey bias in your choice of words.
The word DIFFERENT is pretty neutral and yet people can view it either way. Canadians are different than Americans… is different good or bad? Which one is good and which one is bad?