Racial and ethnic disparities in law enforcement outcomes are a topic of national debate, yet the factors which give rise to these disparities are not well understood. Many, including the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, point to implicit bias as one factor which explains disparate treatment and recommend training on the topic. Although many law enforcement agencies have trained on implicit bias, there is no scientific evaluation of implicit bias training on police and policing.

This randomized experiment will determine the effectiveness of the training in raising officers’ awareness of and knowledge about unconscious bias, providing officers skills to manage their unconscious biases, and reducing the disparities in enforcement actions against different racial and ethnic groups.