The training veteran Denver police officers receive to prevent racial profiling meets state standards but is not so extensive as that offered by the Colorado State Patrol and several other large police agencies, says the Denver Post. Officers hired after 2001 take an eight-hour course on policing bias. Older officers have been exposed only to three training bulletins and an 11-minute video in five years. By comparison, the Douglas County sheriff’s department sends every officer to an eight-hour class. In addition, Douglas County deputies must attend cultural diversity training throughout the year.
Critics say Denver hasn’t done enough to educate all its officers. “The idea that you can just train your newest people is just flat-out wrong,” said David Harris, professor of law at the University of Toledo in Ohio and an expert on racial profiling. “If you simply let the training slide for all your experienced people,” he saus. “it’s not going to do much good to train your youngest and newest.” The only veterans required to take the eight-hour course in Denver are newly promoted captains and sergeants.