In February 2022, AIPG hired a full-time Program Officer to assist in the recruitment of law enforcement agencies across the United States to further the previous success from 2021 of the Redefining Policing to Affirm and Instill Human Rights (REPAIR) program.
Furthermore, AIPG redesigned the REPAIR program into a two-component educational model. The first component is the 6-week asynchronous, virtual leadership course, which builds capacity within law enforcement departments to detect risk factors for civil and human rights abuses through lessons in atrocity prevention, history, and social psychology. This training equips officers with the appropriate response tools to protect and promote those rights.
The second component is the Training of Trainers (ToT), in which department leaders select participants from those who have completed the 6-week Leadership Course and who wish to train rank-and-file officers of their respective departments. The selected participants then attend a one-day in-person session with teaching staff from the Auschwitz Institute, where they collaborate to create a human rights curriculum tailored to each department’s specific needs. The first edition of the ToT took place in May 2022 with the Portland Police Bureau and the second with the Boise Police Department in June 2022.
In addition to those departments which have completed the ToT sessions, the REPAIR program is proud to have begun training partnerships with Fulton County Sheriff’s Office (GA), Cobb County Sheriff’s Office (GA), and the Tempe Police Department in Arizona. All personnel from the Atlanta Police Department completed the REPAIR program and wrapped its last courses in June. The next phase for them, including the newer departments that have been recently brought on, is a Training-of-Trainers session.
The REPAIR Program is scheduled to complete over 30 courses in 2022 and hopes to increase that number in 2023.