In the News
ABLE has garnered headlines since its inception due to its innovative approach to teaching officers the skills they need to intervene with one another to prevent or stop harm, and creating an agency culture where all officers are expected to intervene and to accept interventions when needed. Below is a sampling of news pieces covering ABLE and its implementation at agencies across the U.S. and Canada.
2024
Wichita Police begin new “active bystander” training program
KFDI (KS) | March 13, 2024
Knoxville Police Department highlights crime statistics, departmental changes in annual report
WVLT8 (TN) | March 5, 2024
Kingston Police accepted into trailblazing ABLE project, board hears
Kingstonist (ON) | January 19, 2024
2023
Gonzales Police officers complete ABLE training program
Salinas Valley (CA) Tribune | December 14, 2023
Logan City Police Department completes training to prevent officer misconduct
Herald Journal (UT) News | December 1, 2023
Growing Movement Teaches Cops To Confront Misconduct
Law360 | November 17, 2023
Weber State police complete national certification for officer peer accountability
KSL.com (UT) | October 15, 2023
Police add active bystander training for the benefit of officers, community
West (MO) Newsmagazine | September 19, 2023
Colorado State Patrol invests in intervention training
Longmont (CO) Leader | September 14, 2023
Three years after George Floyd, activists push for racial equity and police accountability
WHYY Philadelphia | June 2, 2023
Opinion: Active bystandership training is the missing tool
The Denver Post | February 28, 2023
Editorial: Denver cops are ‘ABLE’ to do a tough job
Denver Gazette | February 1, 2023
Why Did Other Cops Fail To Stop the Lethal Assault on Tyre Nichols?
Reason | January 30, 2023
A closer look at the training on Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement
9 News (Denver) | January 28, 2023
2022
Academic Paper: Active bystandership for law enforcement: Improving public safety by creating a policing culture of peer intervention
Psychological Services | November 10, 2022
Colorado police agencies to receive “ABLE” training aimed at preventing officer misconduct
Denver7 | October 12, 2022
Fairfax Co. Police partner with ‘The ABLE Project’ for new active bystandership training
ABC7 (Washington, DC) | August 11, 2022
Milwaukee police will undergo new training on how to intervene when they see misconduct from fellow cops. Here’s how it works.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel | March 17, 2022
A New Message for Police: If You See Something, Say Something
The New York Times | February 27, 2022
In the Trial of Officers in George Floyd’s Death, Was It Their Duty to Intervene?
USA Today | February 7, 2022
George Floyd and the Duty to Intervene
The Washington Post | February 3, 2022
2021
What Is ABLE Training? A Look at the New Program Mandated for DC Police
WUSA9 (Washington, DC) | October 20, 2021
Minneapolis Police to Get Bystander Training Following Murder of George Floyd
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) | September 21, 2021
Castle Shannon Police Department First in Region to Complete Intervention Training
WPXI-TV (Pittsburgh) | September 17, 2021
Preventing Harm and Saving Careers Through Intervention Training: Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE)
Community Policing Dispatch: The Newsletter of the COPS Office | September 2021
GULC Administers Police Bystandership Training
The Hoya | September 10, 2021
Can the Police Do a Better Job at Policing Themselves?
Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) | August 30, 2021
Active Bystandership Training for Law Enforcement: An EPIC Idea
The Municipal | August 2021
Can Police Be Taught to Stop Their Own Violence?
Boston Globe | May 6, 2021
After George Floyd’s Murder, This NOPD Training Program Went National
WDSU New Orleans | May 3, 2021
The Lessons We Learned from Minneapolis This Week
Washington Post | April 22, 2021
Reform After Derek Chauvin Convicted: Doing the Right Thing Is Contagious, Even for Police
USA Today | April 20, 2021
Bystanders in a Digital Age: The Heroes of the Derek Chauvin Trial
Washington Post | April 20, 2021
What About the Cops Who Watched George Floyd Die?
Politico | April 9, 2021
If You See Something, Say Something: Denver Police Leaders Receive Training in National Peer Intervention Program
Denver Gazette | April 9, 2021
After George Floyd’s death, Westbrook police adopt new peer intervention training program
ABC WTMW 8 Westbrook (ME) | April 8, 2021
How to Break Free of the Bystander Effect and Help Someone in Trouble
Popular Science | March 2, 2021
Westchester Distributes Draft Police Reform Report And Recommendations
WAMC Northeast Public Radio (Albany) | February 11, 2021
Duty to Intervene, Policy Assessment
Council on Criminal Justice, Task Force on Policing | January 2021
NYPD Officers to Get Training on Speaking Up Against Bad Policing
Wall Street Journal | January 28, 2021
2020
The FBINNA Joins Forces with Georgetown Law Center’s ABLE Project to Provide Evidence-Based Active Bystandership Training to Law Enforcement Officers
Associate: The Magazine of the FBI Academy National Associates | October/December 2020
Police officers should be guardians, not warriors. That could have saved Andre Hill’s life.
Washington Post | December 31, 2020
AG Grewal Overhauls Statewide Police Use of Force Policies
Insider NJ | December 21, 2020
Active Bystandership Can Be Taught and Learned
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin | December 8, 2020
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office To Undergo Active Bystander Training
WOSU Radio (Columbus, OH) | December 8, 2020
Concord Police undergoing ABLE training to learn intervention techniques when officers are doing something wrong
WBTV (Concord, NC) | November 9, 2020
Police Bystandership | Questioning Qualified Immunity
KCUR (Kansas City, MO) | November 9, 2020
NOPD’s National Ethical Police Training Program
WKRG News 5 (Mobile and Pensacola) | November 8, 2020
Training police to patrol each other
BBC News | October 6, 2020
Ervin Staub: A Holocaust survivor’s mission to train ‘heroic bystanders’
BBC News | October 5, 2020
What works to reduce police brutality:Psychologists’ research is pinpointing the factors that lead to overly aggressive, biased policing—and intervention that can prevent it
American Psychological Association | October 1, 2020
Just prosecuting police officers won’t make us safe. Here’s what’s needed.
Washington Post | September 25, 2020
‘I’ve got your 6’: The value of officer intervention training
Police1 | August 31, 2020
Years before George Floyd’s death, Minneapolis police chief spoke of difficulty of stopping misconduct by a veteran cop
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) | August 23, 2020
Wilmington Police Department to undergo active bystander training
WECT News (Wilmington, NC) | August 18, 2020
ABLE Project: WPD One of First to Join Program for Bystander Intervention Training
WWAY News (Wilmington, NC) | August 18, 2020
‘Hey, don’t do what you’re doing’: Teaching Cops to Say Something if They See Something
Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) | August 4, 2020
Duty To Intervene Policies Aim To Prevent Officers From Using Excessive Force
WBUR: Boston’s NPR News Station| July 20, 2020
The Holocaust Survivor Hoping to Change American Police Culture
NBC News | July 19, 2020
Commissioner Outlaw to Implement Peer Intervention Training for all Officers
KYW Newsradio (Philadelphia) | July 18, 2020
Can Peer Intervention Change Baltimore’s Police Culture? (Baltimore Sun Editorial Board)
Baltimore Sun | July 15, 2020
Deputy NOPD Chief: What Loyalty Means to Me and Fellow Officers
The Advocate (Baton Rouge) | July 15, 2020
Georgetown Law’s Innovative Policing Program Launches Project ABLE to Help Police Departments Build a Culture of Active Bystandership
Georgetown Law | July 8, 2020
Cops Stopping Cops: In Minnesota, There are Rules, but No Training
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) | June 30, 2020
Local Researcher Says Changing Police Behavior Is Possible
WBUR: Boston’s NPR News Station | June 24, 2020
New Orleans Police Program Aims To Stop Police Misconduct, Reduce Burnout
WAMU: Washington, DC’s NPR News Station | June 20, 2020
The Plight of the Police Whistleblower
The Crime Report | June 18, 2020
How Training Can Empower Officers to Intervene
PoliceOne.com | Jun. 8, 2020
Training Police to Step In and Prevent Another George Floyd
PEW Trust | June 5, 2020
Ideas We Should Steal: Ethical Policing
The Philadelphia Citizen | Jun. 4, 2020
How to Actually Fix America’s Police
The Atlantic | June 3, 2020
Stopping the next George Floyd killing: Empowering bystanders, encouraging ethical police
USA Today | June 2, 2020
George Floyd’s death could have been prevented if we had a police culture of intervention
The Washington Post | May 29, 2020
CUPD joins the national conversation on the importance of bystander intervention
The Newsstand (Clemson University) | May 29, 2019
Washington to teach all officers to ‘redefine loyalty’ when cops break rules
My Northwest (Seattle) | April 13, 2020
Using Psychology To Transform Policing
Presentation to Psychology – Law Society Annual Conference | March 6, 2020
2019 and earlier
Policing Requires an ‘EPIC’ Shift
R Street Shorts | April 2019
NOPD’s Innovative Approach to Saving Police Careers
Associate: The Magazine of the FBI National Academy Associates | March/April 2019
New Orleans police pioneer new way to stop misconduct, remove ‘blue wall of silence’
The Washington Post | January 24, 2019
Loyola Hosts First National Police Peer Intervention Conference
JustSouth Quarterly | Summer 2018
Buy-In Is Irrelevant When It’s Just A Better Way: One Reason Why NOPD’s Novel Police Peer Intervention Training Program Is Taking Off
The Community Policing Dispatch | June 2018
New Orleans (LA) Police Department
Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine | March 30, 2018
Data Analytics and Peer Intervention: Tools for Fostering Transparency and Accountability
Emerging Issues in American Policing | January 2018
Preventing Police Misconduct
Monitor on Psychology | October 2017
Keeping Each Other Safe: An Assessment of The Use of Peer Intervention Programs to Prevent Police Officer Mistakes and Misconduct, Using New Orleans’ EPIC Program As A Potential National Model
Police Quarterly | 2017
An EPIC Idea by NOPD: A New Model for Ethical Policing
Police Chief Magazine | November 2016
New Orleans Program Teaches Officers to Police One Another
The New York Times | August 28, 2016
Subject to Debate – Peer Intervention
A Newsletter of the Police Executive Research Forum | July-September 2016