Governor Wilson's budget included a $2 million allocation for the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) to send 7,000 peace officers through a Law Enforcement Tools for Tolerance program
at the Simon Wiesenthal Center's Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles. Part of these funds were used to send a mixed group of peace officers and representatives of community-based human relations programs (including
CAHRO's Board of Directors) through the program in May. David Spisak, POST's consultant on community awareness and hate crime training, explained that the purpose of the visit was to expose the resources of the
Museum to police departments and human relations organizations that might be able to use them in their work throughout California and to evaluate the applicability of the "Tools for Tolerance" and holocaust museum
displays to hate crime training. Participants explored multi-media Tools for Tolerance exhibits aimed at increasing sensitivity to bigotry and took a tour through the holocaust section of the
Museum. The 100+ reviewers then reconvened to hear presentations by a a holocaust survivor; a former Skinhead who spoke of racist strategies used by Skinheads and the need for officers to be alert to threats to
their safety during traffic stops; and by Long Beach PD Sgt. Josef Levy who spoke about hate crime, and the distinction between stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.
Law enforcement participants were
separated from community participants and asked to assess how the exhibits and presentations would impact their work in law enforcement and provide suggestions for the Museum of Tolerance to improve their hate crime
training. The community participants attended a presentation on the "Psychological Aspects of Hate Crime Victimization" by Dr. Ed Dunbar.
The second day of the two-day event included a presentation by
Carla Arranaga from the Los Angeles District Attorney's Hate Crime Division and an exploration of other Museum resources. The final afternoon was used to get participant responses to the following questions:
1.How could the resources of the Museum be used in POST standardized Hate Crime Training for Trainers and in POST standardized Hate Crime Investigations Training curricula?
2.What are the
characteristics of worthwhile joint programs between community and law enforcement and what role, if any, can the Museum play in advancing those programs?
3.What can POST do to enhance training and
performance in reducing the incidence of hate crime and improve reporting?
Law enforcement officers provided numerous suggestions in the feedback sessions including, but not limited to; strengthening the presentation on hate crime; helping trainees connect what they were exposed
to at the Museum to their job responsibilities; and clarifying that the Museum of Tolerance experience was to supplement, not substitute for, hate crime training by the department and other service
providers.
Community members raised issues regarding the need for the Tools for Tolerance exhibits to be more inclusive of the diverse populations in California and to address those
populations with the same quality and empathy as those afforded the Jewish victims of the holocaust.
Captain Reginald Lyles of Novato Police Department who co-chairs the Bay Area Hate Crime Investigators
Association felt, "the holocaust display provides an historical perspective of hate violence running amok and the results of intolerance unchecked. Good Germans say they don't know what went wrong. The holocaust
exhibit illustrates the need to address hate violence when it is a seedling." He also suggested that with "a little tinkering" the Tools for Tolerance section could provide an important resource
for police training. He cited the need to more forcefully invoke the stories of other atrocities, and to strengthen the stories of California Indians, Latinos and other people represented in the California
population.
Dave Spisak welcomed the comments of the participants and commended the Museum of Tolerance staff for being very responsive to the need to adapt their program to meet the
needs of California law enforcement. He believes the resources of the Museum of Tolerance offer additional tools to help California law enforcement and community organizations prevent and reduce the incidence of
hate violence. He is currently working on helping the Museum get people to view the Tools for Tolerance exhibit from their own perspectives so that the staff can consider ways to improve its presentations and keep
them current.
For further information contact David Spisak (916) 227-3912, or Lieba Geft the Museum's training coordinator at (310) 843-0012.
