MINNEAPOLIS: Instructing law enforcement on the proper procedures to follow after they carry out the extrajudicial killing of a suspect or civilian bystander, a new cultural sensitivity course reportedly seeks to teach police about the different end-of-life rituals observed by the many people they gun down. ?Sure, a lot of these officers know about the last rites that should be administered to a Catholic they?ve just shot, but most have no idea what to do if they murder a Hindu?and that?s unfair,? cultural sensitivity training officer Janet Palacios said Tuesday, describing how some Buddhists who are strangled while in police custody may wish to have their body carefully cut into pieces so they can later be left on a mountaintop for a traditional Tibetan Sky Burial. ?We want our officers to better understand the diverse cultural practices of the citizens they serve so they know how to interact with them as the life fades from their eyes. This will help to better integrate police into the community, letting everyone know that law enforcement is doing its best to send their loved ones off to whatever afterlife they believe in. If police keep these rituals in mind while they?re unloading rounds into an unarmed suspect, they could, for example, hold a candlelight vigil while they?re standing around and watching the person bleed out on the pavement.? Palacios went on to describe another course she offers that instructs police on how to go about sexually harassing a fellow officer who is gay.
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