BLOOMFIELD, NJ -- The Bloomfield Police Department continues to set the standard for meaningful reforms aimed at strengthening their relationship with the community and holding officers accountable. The department has implemented new training procedures which are required of each officer that includes recognizing implicit biases and deescalation.
“Director DeMaio and our entire Bloomfield Police Department have done a phenomenal job at instituting new policies and training that will lead to positive outcomes within our community,” said Mayor Venezia. “We want to ensure that our officers understand the potential for bias and that they have common sense tools for de-escalation.
The Mayor, Town Council and Police Department have taken a great deal of input from the community about policing over the course of the year. This month, the township held a community meeting on policing in the township in which Director DeMaio presented information on the department's community policing initiatives and the focus on policing and race.
“We are taking the concerns of the community extremely seriously and are working hard to make sure that every interaction we have with the community is both fair and positive,” said Public Safety Director, Sam DeMaio. “By providing these trainings to our officers, we are giving them all of the necessary tools to handle a diverse group of residents and limiting the potential for unconscious bias. Our department will continue to lead the way on these critical reforms.”
The recently completed first training was about recognizing and addressing implicit bias and diversity awareness, seeing how stereotypes impact relationships and effectively engaging diverse communities. The next training which is scheduled to begin on November 2, will be the de-escalation training.