Federal funds aim to train police to calm encounters
Cornyn, Houston leaders discuss the $124 million program’s importance
Mayor Sylvester Turner’s task force for police reform began because of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and now more conversations are taking place after the police beating death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.
New federal police funding is aimed at a proactive solution, instead of reacting to another wrongful use of force.
Funding to promote law enforcement de-escalation was approved in December and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn spoke with Houston leaders and law enforcement Tuesday at a roundtable discussion about its importance.
The Law Enforcement Deescalation Training Act, which was introduced by Cornyn, requires the Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to work with law enforcement, mental health organizations and advocacy groups to develop skills such as training on de-escalation and safe response to mental health crises.
The law authorizes $124 million in federal grant funding over four years for training. The specific distribution of the funding was not announced Tuesday.
The National Institute of Justice and Government Accountability Office is required to evaluate the training
“This is a significant step in the right direction — that is to train police officers to de-escalate confrontations with suspects, whether they’re going through a mental health crisis, or any other set of circumstances. And the goal of course, is to make sure that force is only used when absolutely necessary,” Cornyn said.
Bishop James Dixon II, president of the NAACP Houston Branch, said he has been stopped by police at least three times in the last three years and believes his own deescalation tactics helped keep encounters from taking a dangerous turn.
“This law will serve to educate more intensely and expand what departments like HPD are able to do and have been doing,” he said.
Everyone’s top goal, for both the citizens and police officers, is to be able to go home safely to their families, said Larry Payne, chair of Turner’s task force on police reform.
So far, Cornyn said, the Houston Police Department is
already a national model for de-escalation training, but not every department has the resources and leadership to be able to tackle it.
Houston Police Chief Troy Finner said officers go through de-escalation training classes and use virtual reality to aid in simulating scenarios.
“Whenever we can deescalate, we need to de-escalate,” Finner said.
Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers Union, recognized the funding will be helpful for smaller agencies, because the first thing to go in budget cuts is training hours for a lot of these agencies, he said.
“We as citizens and constituents want and demand from our police officers accountability, transparency and trust,” Payne said.
“A part of achieving these things is the relationships built, nurtured and maintained on mutual trust and respect, because nothing happens without trust,” he added.