Law enforcement across the country continues to be scrutinized following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, just two of several unarmed Black people killed in recent years.
Lubbock Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said he sees this moment as an opportunity to make a difference.
“I will tell you, there is no better time to be in policing," Mitchell said. "Because we get to change how we police and how we treat people and I think that’s very important.”
At Tuesday’s city council meeting, Assistant Police Chief Jon Caspell gave an overview of how the department trains officers. Listen to the full presentation below.
“It’s our job to come before you and say this is how we do things different and how we ensure that what you see in other places is not what’s going to be tolerated or what’s going to happen here in Lubbock," Caspell said.
Caspell explained that the Lubbock Police Department has its own academy that all officers go through. Lubbock requires over 1,000 hours of training for its officers, 300 hours more than the state’s minimum requirement.
At the academy, recruits who have passed a deep background check take 59 total courses. Caspell said that includes sections on multiculturalism and racial profiling, de-escalation and crisis intervention, and use of force.
“It is a very serious thing even to just lay hands on somebody and to use less lethal force, let alone to draw a gun and have to use deadly force against somebody," Caspell said. "So there has to be legitimacy in that and we go far and above in teaching.”
Texas-licensed officers who try to transfer into the Lubbock Police Department go through an abbreviated academy. An officer with anything questionable on their record is not accepted.
“We did that this last hiring cycle," Caspell said. "Where we had an officer, I won’t say from where, but had some questionable things in his background as a law enforcement officer. We took a pass.”
The agency requires officers to continue and update their training. Caspell said the department is in the process of getting all police mental health peace officer certified. It’ll take time, but they’re working toward mandating this certification.
“To help our officers see someone’s symptoms and say ‘this person is acting like they’re schizophrenic’ and give them tools in order to de-escalate and deal with this person," Caspell explained. "Or this person looks like they’re experiencing depression or they’re suicidal. Here are tools that you can intervene with that person.”
Mitchell added that the department is also working to diversify officers and is actively recruiting and promoting more people of color and women. Caspell said there is still work to do.
“One of the many things that we’ve learned over these last several weeks is that we can never stop improving.”
