By Vicki Prichard
NKyTribune reporter
Heather Crabbe was going through the checkout line at a large grocery chain in Independence when the cashier asked if she would be using her food stamp card for the purchase.
Crabbe, a local attorney, was stung by the comment and the assumption at its core.
Crabbe
“I was certainly offended, but thought, wow, regardless of level of education, in that moment I’d been reduced to someone who can’t support myself,” says Crabbe.
The comment was emblematic of microaggression, a word first coined back in 1970 by Harvard professor Chester M. Pierce, which refers to the casual degradation of any socially marginalized group through dismissals, or everyday exchanges that denigrate. It reflects an implicit bias, the attitudes or stereotypes that impact our understanding and actions in an unconscious manner.
“Implicit bias exists in all of us,” says Crabbe, who set out to learn about hers through Harvard University’s online Implicit Awareness Test. It assesses implicit associations about race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities and other topics.
“Once you become aware of what they are, you become much more conscious of how you act,” she says.
Raising that awareness became a driving force for Crabbe and a fellow Salmon P. Chase College of Law graduate, Carlos Bailey. As stories involving implicit bias dominated national headlines, she and Bailey, who practices in Bowling Green, decided to seek solutions.
“We thought the key was empathy and understanding — if we could walk a day in someone’s shoes — and there’s technology out there for that,” says Crabbe.
Their “heartfelt discussion” about how to use their particular skill sets to improve the relationship between law enforcement and the people they serve, and address the “narrative of mistrust” that has become a national conversation, was the catalyst for founding Virtu-Us, LLC .
Working with NKU’s College of Informatics (COI), Virtu-Us will develop virtual training simulations designed to advance understanding of implicit bias.
Through a virtual reality headset, users will be immersed in a 360-degree world where they experience simulated interactions with law enforcement officers. Through the eyes of people directly interacting with officers, bystanders, and the eyes of the officers, the simulations will explore thoughts, beliefs, and concerns on all sides of the situation.
Bailey
The idea is to give the user the most realistic experience possible.
All simulations will be prerecorded using actors and will explore implicit bias in the context of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or profession.
The first version of Virtu-Us will concentrate on interaction with police officers, says Crabbe, because that’s where much of the attention has been in the national conversation.
“We believe that 99.9 percent of the time there’s not an officer going out there thinking, ‘I’m ready to ruin someone’s day.’ But sometimes there can be a disconnect — in many of these cases shown on the news — between police and the communities they serve, about how we communicate, having empathy, being able to understand someone else’s perspective,” says Crabbe. “We talked about what is the best way to bring community and the police together, and that is to show both sides.”
The hope is that the simulations will advance the user’s understanding of implicit bias and how it impacts interaction.
Crabbe said the goal is to find out what goes through someone’s mind when they are being pulled over. Are they nervous because of everything they’ve seen; because of who they are and their background?
“We have to be honest here, and look at the history of discrimination in this country. If you look at this country’s history, it’s the police who had to enforce unfair laws,” Crabbe says. “Are we getting past that? Absolutely, but we have people who remember those things. My grandmother is in her 80s and she remembers that (and) police have historically been a part of it.”
Crabbe references Wellesley, Massachusetts Chief of Police Terrence M. Cunningham, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Wellesley stated stated in October that the history of the law enforcement profession is “replete with examples of bravery, self-sacrifice, and service to the community, and is at its core, policing is a noble profession”. He added. “it is also clear that the history of policing has had darker periods.”
Cunningham cited laws that were enacted by state and federal governments which required officers to perform “unpalatable tasks,” and said that while that is no longer the case. The dark side of that shared history, however, created a multigenerational, and somewhat inherited mistrust between communities of color and law enforcement agencies.
Crabbe echoes Cunningham’s hope that by working together, a historic cycle of mistrust can be broken, and hopes that their efforts through Virtu-US, LLC will play a role in bringing about change.
Virtu-Us, LLC appears to be a unique means to bridge the divides of implicit bias. Crabbe says a provisional patent search didn’t find anything close to the technology she and Bailey hope to create working with NKU’s COI and consultants, a member of the New York Police Department and a psychologist.
Law enforcement departments will have the ability to host gatherings for both officers and community members to use the simulation. Virtually experiencing situations from the perspectives and experiences of the people interacting with the officers, bystanders, and the officers, will ideally allow participants to discuss individual actions and reactions, and move toward a deeper understanding.
“The officers are going to get a chance to see things from the other person’s perspective, and they’ll get a chance to see things from the officers’ perspective,” says Crabbe. “It can be a dangerous job. When an officer says, ‘Show your hands,’ you need to show your hands. We’re trying to show all sides, all perspectives, and lead to empathy, understanding, conversations, and awareness.”
She says they would like to see Virtu-Us distributed to police academies, and think it will be appropriate for college for use in criminal justice, sociology, and disciplines that deal with the human perspective.
To meet the funding needs for Virtu-Us, LLC, which will require hiring a film and editing agency, actors, props, additional professionals, and marketing materials, she and Bailey have set up a Indiegogo account.
“I honestly think everyone just wants to live in peace. I think overwhelmingly we can do that, we just need to come together,” says Crabbe. “We hope this can build a bridge.”
