Dull And Dirty: Your Workplace Could Affect Brain Function

Chicago task force releases landmark report, calls on Police Chief to acknowledge racism in police force

Yesterday, Chicago’s Police Accountability Task Force released its final report. Historically, the report called on the newly appointed Chicago Police Superintendent to acknowledge the force’s “history of racial disparity and discrimination.” Many believe the report, which many believe forced Mayor Rahm Emanuel to publicly acknowledge the Chicago Police Department’s continued issues with racism and to consider dismantling the city’s widely criticized Internal Police Review Board.

The task force was established in response to the public outcry in the wake of the death of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times while running away from a Chicago Police Officer. The task force “dug deeper into the complaints of so many about the callous and disrespectful way in which they had been treated by some officers” within the CPD, and recommended sweeping changes to what it described as “systemic problems in CPD.”

The source of the current state of mistrust and animosity between the public and the CPD, it found, was the result of 

racism

a mentality in CPD that the ends justify the means 

a failure to make accountability a core value and imperative within CPD

a significant underinvestment in human capital

Below are the recommendations of the task force:

How We Propose to Empower People.

Create a Community Safety Oversight Board, allowing the community to have a powerful platform and role in the police oversight system.

Implement a citywide Reconciliation Process beginning with the Superintendent publicly acknowledging CPD’s history of racial disparity and discrimination, and making a public commitment to cultural change.

Replace CAPS with localized Community Empowerment and Engagement Districts (CEED) for each of the city’s 22 police districts, and support them accordingly. Under CEED, district Commanders and other leadership would work with local stakeholders to develop tailored community policing strategies and partnerships.

Renew commitment to beat-based policing and expand community patrols so that officers learn about and get to know the communities they serve, and community members take an active role in partnering with the police.

Reinvigorate community policing as a core philosophy and approach that informs actions throughout the department.

Evaluate and improve the training officers receive with respect to youth so that they are prepared to engage in ways that are age-appropriate, trauma-informed and based in a restorative justice model.

Require CPD and the police oversight system to be more transparent and release to the public incident-level information on arrests, traffic and investigatory stops, officer weapon use and disciplinary cases.

Host citywide summits jointly sponsored by the Mayor and the President of the Cook County Board to develop and implement comprehensive criminal justice reform.

Encourage the Mayor and President of the Cook County Board to work together to develop and implement programs that address socioeconomic justice and equality, housing segregation, systemic racism, poverty, education, health and safety.

Adoption of a citywide protocol allowing arrestees to make phone calls to an attorney and/or family member(s) within one hour of arrest.

Implementation of citywide “Know Your Rights” training for youth.

How We Propose to Address the Inadequate Emphasis on Accountability

Create a dedicated Inspector General for Public Safety, which would independently audit and monitor CPD and the police oversight system, including for patterns of racial bias.

Replace the Independent Police Review Authority with a new and fully transparent and accountable Civilian Police Investigative Agency, which will enhance structural protections, powers and resources for investigating serious cases of police misconduct, even in the absence of sworn complaints. The new CPIA should ensure an accessible, professional and supportive complaint process.

Implement a data-driven, best-in-class Early Intervention System for CPD to identify officers with problems before they become problems for the community.

Fundamentally change provisions in the collective bargaining agreements that are impediments to accountability, such as allowing for anonymous complaints, eliminating the ability to change statements after reviewing video and removing the requirement to destroy complaint records.

Fully implement the first-in-the-nation written video release policy for officer-involved shootings.

Expand CPD’s body cam pilot program.

Require that all disciplinary information be provided online so that citizens can track complaints and discipline histories.

How We Propose to Address Other Systemic and Longstanding Problems

Establish for the first time in Chicago a Deputy Chief of Diversity and Inclusion in CPD.

Implement policies to dismantle the institutionalization of the police “code of silence,” including substantial changes to the collective bargaining agreements between the police and the City, ending command channel review, reforming the role of CPD supervisors and pattern and practice analysis.

Establish a smart 911 system for OEMC, allowing residents to pre-enter information on mental health or other issues that would be instantly available to OEMC operators.

Create a multi-layer co-responder system where mental health providers work with OEMC and CPD to link individuals to treatment.

Expand significantly the Crisis Intervention System for CPD and other first responders.

Create a “Mental Health Critical Response Unit” within CPD that is responsible for mental health crisis response functions, training, support, community outreach and engagement, cross-agency coordination and data collection.

Create a hotline for CPD members, whether civilian or sworn, to lodge complaints, and develop a third-party system for the processing and follow-up of all comments and complaints reported to the hotline.

The star of “Grey’s Anatomy”, Jesse Williams, was presented a Humanitarian award at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 26. It’s a well-deserved win since Jesse has been fighting for equal rights for Black people and supporting the Black Lives Matter for a really long time.

If you happened to miss it, watch the full speech here.

#BlackLivesMatter   

#BETAwards

Only the brave are free.

Seneca (via philosophybits)

This diagram shows our cosmic address at a glance. We see our planetary system around the Sun, our stellar neighborhood in our galaxy, our galaxy in the local group of galaxies, and our group in the entire universe.

Learn much more in the Cullman Hall of the Universe. 

From “The World Set Free“ episode of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey:

Neil deGrasse Tyson talks about Augustin Mouchot and his role in the history of solar power.

The Forer (Barnum) Effect

I am sure that most of you have seen those posts which claim to tell you your personality by the way you sleep, by the way you eat Oreos, by the date you were born (astrology & horoscopes), by what your favorite color is, etc. You may be surprised at how many people actually believe in these personality “tests” (maybe you do, too?). The Oreos one is my favorite because it is beyond stupid. If you haven’t seen it, here is one of the many sites which feature the “quiz.” I especially find the “psychologists have discovered” part distasteful, as people generally believe everything claimed to have been discovered by scientists. Here is one of the many versions out there: 

So, if all these “tests” are bogus, then why do people believe in them? Why would anyone be convinced that they work if they, in fact, do not? The answer is simple: the Forer Effect (sometimes called the Barnum Effect).

Basically, the Forer (or Barnum) Effect is the tendency of people to rate statements about their personality as highly accurate, even though these same statements could apply to almost everyone else.

In 1949, Bertram R. Forer published a study in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology where he describes how the phenomena works. In the study, Forer had 39 of his students take a personality evaluation task (which he himself made) called Diagnostic Interest Bank. One week later, he gave his students their “personality sketch” and instructed them to refrain from showing it to each other.

“It was essential,” Forer wrote, “that no student see the sketch received by any other student because all sketches were identical.” All the sketches had the following statements:

You have a great need for other people to like and admire you.

You have a tendency to be critical of yourself.

You have a great deal of unused capacity which you have not turned to your advantage.

While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them.

Your sexual adjustment has presented problems for you.

Disciplined and self-controlled outside, you tend to be worrisome and insecure inside.

At times you have serious doubts as to whether you have made the right decision orvdone the right thing.

You prefer a certain amount of change and variety and become dissatisfied when hemmed in by restrictions and limitations.

You pride yourself as an independent thinker and do not accept others’ statements without satisfactory proof.

You have found it unwise to be too frank in reveling yourself to others.

At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, reserved.

Some of your aspirations tend to be pretty unrealistic.

Security is one of your major goals in life

Starting to sound a bit like you? That’s because these statements generally apply to every single one of us at one point or another in life. And, in fact, Forer’s students rated the personality sketch to be highly accurate at representing their personalities. These are the results obtained from the study:

As you can see, when asked to rate the accuracy of the personality sketch (0 being poor and 5 being perfect), most students rated the sketch as a 4 and a 5, even though they all received the same personality sketch. (N represents the number of students in the study).

Here’s a demonstration Derren Brown did on his program, Trick of the Mind, where he basically replicated Forer’s study on three distinct groups of people. One group from the UK, another from the U.S., and a third from Spain. Check it out:

  Reference

Forer, Bertram. R. (1949). The fallacy of personal validation: A classroom demonstration of gullibility. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 44(1). 118-123.

Brexit makes a trip to the UK a great travel deal

The collapsing value of the pound in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union is frightening news for the country’s economy — but great news for Americans itching to plan a last minute summer vacation.

What's Wrong with Cultural Appropriation? These 9 Answers Reveal Its Harm

If cultural appropriation doesn't seem like a big deal to you, you're missing something big. Here's what you need to know.

1. It Trivializes Violent Historical Oppression

2. It Lets People Show Love for the Culture, But Remain Prejudiced Against Its People

3. It Makes Things ‘Cool’ for White People – But ‘Too Ethnic’ for People of Color

4. It Lets Privileged People Profit from Oppressed People’s Labor

5. It Lets Some People Get Rewarded for Things the Creators Never Got Credit For

6. It Spreads Mass Lies About Marginalized Cultures

7. It Perpetuates Racist Stereotypes

8. White People Can Freely Do What People of Color Were Actively Punished for Doing

9. It Prioritizes the Feelings of Privileged People Over Justice for Marginalized People

“If you’re wondering what the big deal is about cultural appropriation, I’ve got you covered.

Read on for some perspective on why people might get upset if you borrow from another culture.”

Read the whole article on @evrydayfeminism at: http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/06/cultural-appropriation-wrong/

Confirmed: NASA Just Discovered Earth Has A New Moon

One of the most amazing discoveries as of late is that NASA has just declared Earth appearing to have a second moon that has been orbiting around our big blue sphere for nearly a century now without our knowledge whatsoever.

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