The Long Beach City Council unanimously passed a recommendation to determine the feasibility and costs in participating in the Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement Project (ABLE) at its Tuesday meeting.
The program, established out of the Georgetown Law School, aims to “create a law enforcement culture that supports peer intervention.”
The item was brought to the council after a presentation was provided by LBPD at the Public Safety Committee in October 2020 on national programs supporting bystandership.
Councilmember Suzie Price, who was chair of the committee at the time, and her staff researched and recommended ABLE.
“Participating in forward-thinking programs that hold officers to the highest standards is an important way to make sure our community is receiving the best law enforcement and policing throughout this discussion,” Price said.
According to the ABLE Project’s website, the program trains officers to intervene in order to prevent misconduct, avoid police mistakes and promote officer health and wellness.
As reported by Denver local station, 9 News, Denver Police Department leadership underwent ABLE training in April. Officers participated in role-playing scenarios that included an officer talking to another about personal issues seeping into work, persuading them to open up.
Another exercise saw an officer confronting an experienced officer about omitting information in a use-of-force report.
The program itself is free, though the City is responsible for the cost of a program coordinator, Price noted.
According to Price, LBPD has applied to be in the program and it estimates that it will be able to train 853 employees. The cost of replacing positions while staff is in training was estimated to be $1.2 million.
Police Chief Robert Luna expressed support for the program, noting that command staff had a two-hour program session.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to bring this to each and every one of our employees to learn the skill base,” Luna said.
Councilmember Uranga, who co-sponsored the item, called the program a “step in the right direction.”
“We look at cultural change for us in the community when we tell people, ‘You see something, say something.’ This puts it into our department directly,” Uranga said. “And that’s exactly what we need as a culture change, not only within the communities but also within a police department.”
Vice Mayor Rex Richardson noted that training and culture change were two things that came up during reconciliation talks.
“I don’t know about this program but from what I hear the research has been done,” Richardson said. “This is the type of thing we should be doing.”
The City manager will work with the Long Beach Police Department and provide a report within 60 days.
“We have seen national efforts to hold our police departments to a higher standard and to rethink traditional policing methodologies and this program does exactly that,” Price said. “Officers are given more tools, encouraging them to be active bystanders so that they can take action and intervene if they see something and be leaders in the department.”
