{"id":400211,"date":"2020-12-15T11:33:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-15T16:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/?p=400211"},"modified":"2020-12-15T11:33:09","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T16:33:09","slug":"colorado-community-college-system-awarded-1-million-from-colorado-health-foundation-to-reshape-law-enforcement-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketnewsdesk.com\/index.php\/colorado-community-college-system-awarded-1-million-from-colorado-health-foundation-to-reshape-law-enforcement-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Community College System Awarded $1 Million from Colorado Health Foundation to Reshape Law Enforcement Training"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Denver, Dec. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Today, the\u00a0Colorado\u00a0Community College Foundation announced that\u00a0The\u00a0Colorado\u00a0Health Foundation\u00a0awarded a $1 million grant to the Colorado Community College System (CCCS)\u00a0to\u00a0reshape\u00a0law enforcement training\u00a0and\u00a0better prepare future officers to serve and protect all\u00a0members of Colorado\u2019s diverse communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The grant will allow\u00a0CCC\u2019s\u00a0Law\u00a0Enforcement\u00a0Academy\u00a0Curriculum and Training\u00a0project\u00a0team\u00a0to\u00a0review current course\u00a0objectives, program requirements, and\u00a0instructor\u00a0techniques to identify opportunities to embed a\u00a0focus\u00a0on\u00a0social justice.\u00a0The redesigned curriculum\u00a0will be offered to academy\u00a0cadets\u00a0and\u00a0delivered\u00a0statewide\u00a0to current officers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An early review of\u00a0Colorado\u2019s Peace Officer Standards and Training\u00a0(POST)\u00a0curriculum indicates that only eight credit hours of the required 556 total credit hours focus on issues of ethics and anti-bias policing. The remaining hours are dedicated to tactical topics\u00a0and skills\u00a0such as criminal processes, basic law, driving, and hand-to-hand combat. While all\u00a0are\u00a0critical aspects of\u00a0officer training,\u00a0CCCS\u2019s project will provide necessary\u00a0balance\u00a0specifically in the areas of racial justice, diversity, implicit bias, and de-escalation\u00a0to better\u00a0reflect the activities that most officers engage in every day.<\/p>\n

“Our commitment to our students and\u00a0to\u00a0our communities is to improve lives and increase opportunity through education. We acknowledge that as the state\u2019s largest provider of post-secondary training and workforce education, we have a\u00a0responsibility to re-examine our law enforcement curriculum\u00a0that prepares hundreds of new police officers each year,\u201d said\u00a0Joe Garcia, chancellor of the\u00a0Colorado Community College System. \u201cWe are grateful for this\u00a0generous support\u00a0from\u00a0The\u00a0Colorado Health Foundation\u00a0that\u00a0will\u00a0help us move our initiative forward and empower us to make\u00a0a lasting impact on the health and safety of our communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Colorado Health Foundation is proud to support this project aimed at transforming local law enforcement training to better reflect, represent and serve Colorado\u2019s diverse communities \u2013 particularly folks who have been historically and disproportionately harmed by police violence, such as Black,\u00a0Latinx, Asian American\/Pacific Islander\u00a0and\u00a0Native\/Indigenous populations,\u201d said Karen McNeil-Miller, president and CEO of The Colorado Health Foundation. \u201cThe safety and well-being of\u00a0everyone\u00a0in our state is critical to our mission to bring health in reach for all Coloradans. We see this collaborative community effort as a potential game\u00a0changer, and as one piece of a larger puzzle to create more inclusive, equitable institutions and systems.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Partners in this important work\u00a0to review\u00a0programs\u00a0statewide\u00a0include the\u00a0Colorado Attorney General\u2019s Office,\u00a0the POST Board,\u00a0community organizations such as Urban League of Metropolitan Denver and Colorado Association of Chiefs of Police,\u00a0and prominent\u00a0leaders in the community.\u00a0Higher education partners include\u00a0Colorado Mountain College, Aims Community College, and Western Colorado Community College.\u00a0CCCS and\u00a0these\u00a0college\u00a0partners collectively\u00a0house 11 of the 24 Law Enforcement Academies in the state, all of which are governed by\u00a0the POST\u00a0Board, training close to\u00a0700 cadets per year.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The initiative\u00a0includes three phases. The first phase\u00a0is a\u00a0comprehensive review of current law enforcement training programs and development of a new, culturally responsive\u00a0curriculum. In phase two,\u00a0instructors will complete training\u00a0using the new curriculum\u00a0that includes high impact simulations\u00a0for explicit training around issues of social justice\u00a0and racial equity. The second phase also includes intentional\u00a0efforts\u00a0to\u00a0expand the diversity of instructional staff\u00a0within\u00a0academies.\u00a0Culminating the project in phase three is the\u00a0creation of a second\u00a0training\u00a0program for\u00a0working\u00a0officers\u00a0to be delivered through half-day modules or multi-day\u00a0sessions.\u00a0The\u00a0redesigned curriculum\u00a0is expected to be\u00a0offered\u00a0in 2022\u00a0to\u00a0cadets\u00a0and\u00a0the new\u00a0training for officers\u00a0will be\u00a0available\u00a0in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n ###<\/strong>
\n \u00a0<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n About the Colorado Community College System<\/strong>
\n \u00a0<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

\n The Colorado Community College System<\/a>\u00a0(CCCS) is the state\u2019s largest system of higher education, delivering more than 1,000 programs to over 125,000 students annually through 13 colleges and 40 locations across Colorado. Our open access mission ensures all Coloradans who aspire to enrich their lives have access to quality higher education opportunities. The System Office provides leadership, advocacy and support to the colleges under the direction of the State Board for Community Colleges and Occupational Education (SBCCOE). Join us in changing the way Colorado goes to college.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n About the\u00a0<\/strong>
\n Foundation for Colorado Community Colleges<\/strong>
\n \u00a0<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

Founded in 1987, the\u00a0Foundation for Colorado Community Colleges<\/a>\u00a0advances the mission, vision,\u00a0goals, and objectives of the Colorado Community College System. Specifically, the Foundation\u00a0actively seeks contributions from public and private sources to make\u00a0scholarships available\u00a0statewide, advance key programmatic initiatives, provide training and support for CCCS college\u00a0foundations, and develop partnerships to implement state of the art programs that meet the\u00a0workforce needs of the 21st century.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n About\u00a0<\/strong>
\n The\u00a0<\/strong>
\n Colorado Health Foundation<\/strong>
\n \u00a0<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

The Colorado Health Foundation<\/a>\u202fis bringing health in reach for all Coloradans by engaging closely with communities across the state through investing, policy advocacy, learning and capacity building. For more information, please\u00a0visit\u202fwww.coloradohealth.org.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n Attachment<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n