NWTC holds cultural competency training for law enforcement officers. (IMAGE: Courtesy of Fox 11 WLUK)
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Northeast Wisconsin Technical College offered its first cultural competency training session Monday.
The training is for law enforcement agencies.
Jason Weber, public safety training coordinator at the college, hopes officers will apply Monday’s training while serving in our very own communities.
“Oh my gosh get out of the car and talk to these people!” he said.
Also a former law enforcement officer, Weber helped organize the cultural competency training sessions.
Weber says the classes are similar to police training.
“Then he’s throwing his local twist on it and customizing it,” he explained, referencing the training instructor. “So, this really is a new class that we created in response to what’s been happening.”
The training is discussion based, and aimed at building relationships between police officers and people in their communities.
While suggesting officers try to connect with people outside of police calls and confrontations, Weber adds it may not change the outcome of an arrest.
“Cultural competency isn’t going to affect too much of that because an arrest is going to need to be made regardless of who the person is,” he explained.
Each training is only eight hours.
Still, Weber hopes this is how officers take what they learned in the classroom and apply it to the streets.
“You build that trust level and you show that human side,” said Weber. “That’s probably the biggest thing in policing that I miss is my community.”
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