Thread by @pkquinton

@WeCops Unfortunately, I don’t think we really know. Unequal outcomes in policing (internal and external) will result from multiple, inter-connected processes. Not all these relate to ‘UB’. The evidence on these processes, esp in the UK, is pretty limited. /1 #wecops

@WeCops IMO too much time is spent crunching quant data to ‘prove’ or ‘disprove’ bias, and not enough time is spent exploring the mechanisms that could cause it and its consequences. How much bias is individual, cultural, processual, systemic, etc? /2 #wecops

@WeCops UB is a helpful Idea in as far as it enables people to talk more openly and in a less defensive way about bias, prejudice and discrimination. But there are risks with the idea too. It has little explanatory power. It locates the problem in the heads of individuals. /3 #wecops

@WeCops It also provides people with plausible deniability. (It wasn’t me, it was my UB, which we all have). When it comes to decision-making, I prefer to think about tacit or hidden practical knowledge. All those unexplainable taken-for-granted things people ‘know’ to get by. /4 #wecops

@WeCops In policing, this would be the ‘hunch’ or the ‘copper’s nose’. All those mental shortcuts people learn on the job that are hard to put into words (ie experience). After all, you can’t approach every situation like it’s your first time. You have to make assumptions. /5 #wecops

@WeCops Working assumptions that are flexible and open to change (ie typifications) aren’t usually problematic. Assumptions that are more rigid and impervious to change (ie, stereotypes) are a much more serious issue. /6 #wecops

@WeCops For me, the key research questions are: how is this tacit knowledge manifest, how is it developed, shared and learnt, how does it change over time, and when is it (not) used, why and to what effect? /7 #wecops

@WeCops This may all sound rather academic, but is important. How we understand a problem determines how we go about trying to solve it. UB’s ‘fix’ tends to be training to make people more aware of their biases. The impact on behaviour change is limited however. /8 #wecops

@WeCops Training and education will inevitably be parts of any long term solution to inequalities and discrimination, but the problem goes beyond a simple lack of knowledge and skills. Complex, multifaceted problems need complex, multifaceted answers. /that’s all folks #wecops

@WeCops If @SimonHoldaway1 were here, he’d probably also want to add that it’s inconceivable for people not to be acutely aware of the issues of race and sex in the context of policing. #wecops