Policing in a Multiracial Society (PMSP)
PMSP was created in 2012 by interdisciplinary scholars who united around indignation toward racially motivated police misconduct and a commitment to creating a police force that explicitly honors the values of social justice, equity, and fairness. Our interdisciplinary focuses on history, psychology, and criminal justice.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's Departments of Educational Psychology and African American Studies, The Police Training Institute located in Champaign, Illinois, and community members from Champaign-Urbana. PMSP offers severl initiatives that target the need for improved police community relations. Our longest standing initiative is that cultural awareness education training for police recruits. Our hope is to promote cultural understanding and, in turn, for police to gain the trust of all citizens. Evaluation of the project is an ongoing process, in which police and civilian community members provide us feedback. The goal is to identify and implement evidence-based practices in developing cultural awareness, knowledge and skills among police recruits and veteran officers.
