Lt. Shaun Goodsell heads up the ABLE project for Farmington Police Department. (Courtesy Farmington Police Department)
Lt. Shaun Goodsell heads up the ABLE project for Farmington Police Department. (Courtesy Farmington Police Department)cca

The Farmington Police Department hopes to improve community relations, job satisfaction, health and wellness and reduce risk of lawsuits with their acceptance into the National Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement project.

The ABLE Project was created by the Georgetown University Law Center for Innovations in Community Safety in partnership with Sheppard Mullin, a global law firm.

The Farmington Police Department announced on its Facebook page last week that it had been accepted as a participating agency in the ABLE Project.

Lt. Shaun Goodsell, who heads up the project, said Deputy Chief Baric Crum learned about the program while attending the FBI National Academy. Crum tasked him with determining the feasibility of bringing it to FPD. Goodsell said he coincidentally spoke with a lieutenant near Chicago who had “very good things to say about the ABLE program.”

Goodsell, the nighttime patrol lieutenant, is working with advanced training Sgt. Mike Graff to implement the training program.

Sgt. Mike Graff will be a trainer for ABLE project. (Courtesy Farmington Police Department)
Sgt. Mike Graff will be a trainer for ABLE project. (Courtesy Farmington Police Department)cca

“The ABLE Project is a national hub for training, technical assistance and research that strives to create a police culture where officers intervene when necessary to prevent misconduct, avoid mistakes and promote officer health and wellness,” FPD stated in a news release. ABLE delivers scenario-based training for peer intervention and measures that “a culture of peer intervention.”

According to the ABLE Project website, benefits of bystander training include reduced unnecessary harm to civilians and officers, improved police and community relations and improved citizen satisfaction with law enforcement.

The 10 standards of ABLE are designed to be holistic and a catalyst for change.

Community support, demonstrated through two letters from community organizations, one from the agency leader, and one from the mayor or other government leader.ABLE training for all officers, plus annual refresher courses.A dedicated coordinator who will roll out, promote and reinforce the program.Regular internal and external communications promoting the principles and benefits of peer intervention.A written anti-retaliation policy ensuring that interveners are not punished, or if they are, that the agency will investigate.Officer wellness, including access to counselors for guidance and support.Report obligations that do not change from pre-ABLE participation.Measure perceptions with surveys of personnel who receive ABLE training.Ensure full implementation, with the full support of leadership.Make certified instructors available to help train other agencies.Build a healthier, more accountable department.

“ABLE is dedicated to helping agencies create robust cultures of active bystandership, in which officers both give and accept interventions to prevent or stop harm,” according to the Georgetown Law website.

Their cohort that has grown to over 300 ABLE agencies across the United States and Canada since its launch in summer 2020.

Anticipated benefits of creating a culture of bystandership include:

Reduced unnecessary harm to civilians and improved police/community relations.Reduced unnecessary harm to officers and improved officer health and wellness.Reduced risk of officers losing their jobs and improved officer job satisfaction.Reduced risk of lawsuits against the department, the city, and individual officers and improved citizen satisfaction with their law enforcement agency.

Goodsell, a 14-year veteran of FPD, said the application process is designed to ensure that participants are dedicated and focused on “long-term culture change.”

“A major tenet of the program is empowering every employee to intervene in instances a co-worker is not conducting themselves appropriately,” Goodsell stated. “The goals, as stated by Georgetown are: prevent officer misconduct, avoid police mistakes, and promote officer health and wellness.”