The Baltimore City Police Department is partnering with Morgan State University to implement officer training.
MSU's School of Social Work will provide cultural competency training in an effort to improve police-community relations.
The first phase begins Wednesday and will include 80 total officers - 50 from the city and 30 with Morgan State.
Baltimore City Police Commissioner Kevin Davis approached Morgan State last year about launching such a program. Officer participation is free.
"Our faculty in the School of Social Work is a highly prepared and trained group of clinicians and we are very pleased to do all that we can to build bridges between neighborhoods and law enforcement," said School of Social Work Dean Anna McPhatter in a press release.
"Our goal is to increase the knowledge and skills of police officers that they may be able to use in their interactions with citizens," she said. "We want them to understand the uniqueness of the culture in our city and to accept and value Baltimore's citizens in the same manner they would themselves or others."
According to McPhatter, teaching law enforcement officers how to communicate effectively with people who may be racially, ethnically and culturally different than themselves is a critical part of the training.
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