Morris college proposes to implement a morris college law enforcement training certificate program

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) awarded a $963,000 Project Grant under the Congressionally Recommended Awards program (CFDA 16.753) to Morris College to implement a Law Enforcement Training Certificate Program. The purpose of the program is to develop a 16-hour diversity, equity, and inclusion training curriculum to be offered quarterly over the 4-year grant period. The training will be provided to participating law enforcement agencies in the surrounding counties and the South Carolina Highway Patrol, with the goal of building trust between communities and law enforcement. Expected outcomes include reduced use of force incidents, enhanced de-escalation skills, more positive police-community relations, and program assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of the training.

The purpose of the program is to develop a training program to provide diversity and inclusion training for participating law enforcement agencies from the surrounding counties, and the south carolina highway patrol, based on cultural understanding of the people in the communities they serve. Project activities will focus on creating a 16-hour program, to be offered quarterly during the grant period, providing innovative diversity, equity, and inclusion training in policing strategies and recruitment and hiring, to build trust between communities and law enforcement. Expected outcomes from the execution of the quarterly 16-hour diversity training program for law enforcement personnel include: (1) a reduction in use of force incidents and enhanced DE-escalation skills; (2) more positive relations between police and the community; (3) an additional set of tools to improve sops, and (4) program assessments to evaluate the effectiveness of training (at end of training program and one year later), as IT relates to creating stronger, safer, more secure communities with diverse populations.