FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRINCE GEORGE'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE PROFESSOR TRAINS LOCAL POLICE ON RACE AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
LARGO, Md. (July 1, 2020) – As nationwide discussions about race and law enforcement heat up, along with dialogues about monuments and statues, Prince George's Community College (PGCC) history professor Sharita J. Thompson, Ph.D., says "the conversations that we've been forced to have are long overdue." She is optimistic that with better understanding comes healing.
"We have not had to be put in a position to grapple with our nation's history," said Thompson. "Hopefully, we can deal with it now and start the healing process, particularly for African Americans."
Thompson is a full-time professor at PGCC, where she teaches U.S. history and African American history. She also works with D.C. police officers, helping them gain a deeper understanding of the communities they serve with an increased awareness of the reasons why we have come to this place of unrest in our country.
For the past two years, Thompson and fellow professor Dr. Bernard Demczuk have been teaching a training course for the Metropolitan Police Department on race, the history of African Americans, and contemporary issues, including sentencing policies and laws. The two professors initially met when they came on board as adjunct professors at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) to develop a curriculum and teach a training program on race and law enforcement.
The program originated when Metropolitan Police Chief Peter Newsham took a guided tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. He wanted his officers to do the same and to develop a better understanding of the people and the communities they serve from an African American perspective.
The training course launched in January 2018 as a one-day, 10-hour deep dive into history. It begins at 6 a.m. in the John A. Wilson Building on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., with three hours of classroom time. Demczuk teaches the officers about the history of African Americans in D.C. Thompson then picks up with Civil War history and moves on to contemporary issues, including a close look at the policies and laws that deal with sentencing guidelines. Discussions follow, often eliciting very personal reactions from the officers, according to Thompson. Some have referred to the training as "therapy." They express appreciation for an experience that broadens their perspectives and increases their understanding of how we have come to this place in history.
Following the classroom instruction and discussions, Thompson and Demczuk walk course participants the block and a half to the National Museum of African American History and Culture. There, the 25-30 member class spends the rest of the morning in the history galleries located on the lower levels of the museum. The professors break the group up so that each can take a group of officers on a walk through the galleries, delivering course content and hosting discussions as they go.
Lunch at the museum's Sweet Home Café includes more discussions about the rich culture of African American food and other topics. Then, the training continues in the afternoon with visits to the three upper levels of the museum, where contemporary displays are located. According to Thompson, other museum visitors often tag along with the tour to hear what the professors have to say as they discuss the displays. Those tagging along have included officers from the Philadelphia Police Department and others from Ohio who happened to be at the museum during a training day.
At the end of the very full day, the professors and their students find a place in the museum to have a debriefing and discuss what they saw and learned. Many of the participants come out of the experience humbled and with new views regarding current issues and events. To date, approximately 3,600 officers have taken the course, along with 600 of their civilian colleagues.
According to Thompson, feedback on the police training course has been extremely positive, and officers from jurisdictions across the country have come to sit in on the class. Thompson and Demczuk have also taught the course for officers in Maryland, including for the Hyattsville, Cheverly, and Anne Arundel County police departments. Law enforcement officials from California and Seattle, Washington, have also visited a class, and other law enforcement professionals have expressed interest in the program.
It is too early to determine if the training program is having the intended long-term impact on officers and their performance. However, the Metropolitan Police Department is collecting data from officers immediately after they take the mandated course, again six months later, and at the one-year mark. In the meantime, hundreds of emails from officers who have taken the course already confirm that the class is helpful, and one participant even shared that because of the experience, "I want to be the catalyst that makes the difference."
Last summer, Thompson and Demczuk also conducted a daylong program for upper-level managers of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) at the request of WMATA General Manager and CEO Paul Wiedefeld about race and transportation issues. Another daylong program was taught by the professors for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department, addressing the history of African Americans engaged in fire and emergency medical management systems.
This year, professors Thompson and Demczuk launched a second phase of the program they teach for the D.C. police officers. Phase two is a four-hour experience that focuses on how we got to this place in history, and the content includes film, social media, and other communications platforms. The second phase also addresses the broader community that police officers serve, including the Hispanic and LGBTQ communities. Launched in January 2020, phase two of the program was halted in March when closures to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic took place. This second phase is expected to resume when it is deemed safe to do so.
Professor Sharita J. Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., and lived in Prince George's County, Maryland until she left for college at North Carolina Central University in Durham, where she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees. She was awarded her Ph.D. in history at Howard University in 2008 and was a tenure track professor at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from 2007 to 2012. She returned to Prince George's County to be closer to family and has been a full-time history professor at Prince George's Community College since 2019.
About Prince George's Community College
Named a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance designated by the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security (2015-2020), Prince George's Community College (PGCC) provides high-quality education and training for the progressive and career-oriented residents of Prince George's County. From new high school graduates and career seekers to more seasoned professionals and senior citizens looking to enhance their skillsets, PGCC is comprised of students who represent a wide range of ages, backgrounds, and goals. Serving nearly 40,000 individuals annually, the College is the first choice for higher education for residents of Prince George's County. Collaborative partnerships, responsive degree and training programs, and a commitment to student success enables PGCC to address diverse education and workforce development demands. For more information, visit the college website at www.pgcc.edu. Prince George's Community College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, 3624 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104; (267-284-5000); www.msche.org. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education is an institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education and the Council on Higher Education Accreditation.
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