By Simone Drake, Katrina Lee, Kevin Passino, and Hugo Gonzalez Villasanti

Over-use of force by law enforcement officers in the United States persists, along with a resulting state of crisis in Black communities. In 2021, the Authors launched a project, funded by a grant from The Ohio State University’s Seed Fund for Racial Justice, that sought to intervene in traditional diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training at the Columbus Division of Police. Scholars of law, critical race and gender studies, and engineering, the Authors took a multidisciplinary-team problem-solving approach to the crisis, with a focus on police training. With the aim of developing an innovative software program that augments in-person police training related to DEI, the project’s methodology included using real-life policing scenarios, software design, site visits, and engagement by students in the “Antiracist Technology” engineering course at The Ohio State University. The Authors sought to explore how technology can enhance in-person instructional training related to DEI and cultural competency while simultaneously reducing resistance to and resentment of DEI training. The project featured a collaborative focus on negotiation and critical race and gender studies. Ultimately, the goal is to use technology, together with research on structural and institutional systems of oppression, to improve relations between law enforcement and Black civilians. This Article begins with an historical overview, in two parts: Race and Policing, and Police Training. It then outlines project methodology and describes the beginning stages of this antiracist-technology project.

 Ohio State Legal Studies Research Paper. 2023, 20pg