After nearly 1,000 fatal police shootings in the U.S., the Oswego State Police Department plans to combat officer bias with fair and impartial policing.

University Police Lieutenant Matthew Barbeau was one of 24 officers trained at the National Fair and Impartial Policing program, a three-day SUNY sponsored initiative to control police bias in Syracuse, New York.

“It focuses on a different style of policing,” Barbeau said. “It’s a different perspective on how to go about being a police officer in today’s day and age.”

The SUNY-wide program, led by SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and SUNY Police Commissioner Paul Berger, aims to help officers understand how bias can affect interactions with the public.

“All well intentioned humans have their own bias within them,” Barbeau said. “Bias doesn’t necessarily have to involve racism, but biases towards just about anything. It’s about recognizing that bias exists in all of us.”

According to Zimpher, the selected officers will teach their colleagues on campus and regionally.

“We are proud to bring the Fair and Impartial Policing program to SUNY,” said Zimpher in a press release. “To ensure that the officers keeping our campuses safe and secure have access to the newest and most efficient tools.”

The training sessions were led by Lieutenant Colonel JoAnn D. Johnson of the Illinois State Police Division of Internal Investigation and Anna Laszlo, managing partner and chief operating office of fair and impartial policing, according to the press release.

“It’s based on a science of bias,” Barbeau said. “It’s about sitting down, doing different exercises and showing you results of different tests, clinical studies…and some role playing is involved.”

Communities across the U.S. have implemented this initiative to inspire fair and bias-free policing.

“SUNY is the largest college system in the country that has started this training,” Barbeau said. “But there are other large departments throughout the country that have already had this training.”

More than 1,200 miles outside of Syracuse, the Fair and Impartial Policing is used in Ferguson, Missouri and in Sanford, Florida, where 17-year-old Trayvon Martin was killed.

Barbeau said the training was helpful and it broadened his perspective on bias.

“I was a little hesitant going in. I really wasn’t sure what it was going to entail,” Barbeau said. “By even the first day I saw it was a useful topic and it would help all police departments.”

Barbeau said the strategies are beneficial for curbing bias in the campus community.

“It’s important not only on a college campus but for all policing in general,” Barbeau said. “It’s good for the officers to realize and that everyone understand…the blank responses of profiling.”

A spike in national headlines against police brutality have called police departments to take action and manage enforcement tactics.

“If in your mind you have a bias towards them it can affect the way you do your job,” Barbeau said. “When you see somebody you automatically size them up.”

In March, University Police hopes to implement the program across SUNY police departments.

“Once you realize the issue, you can work to understand it,” Barbeau said.