Mindfulness into Action (MIA) Initiative

The problem is that we are in a hectic world where most personal and societal issues occur as a result of us acting on our taken-for-granted assumptions at an unconscious level. Neuroscience states that 95 to 98% of our actions are unconscious (Pradeep, 2010).

Many of us wake up in the morning with an aspiration to be better parents, better listeners, or better people. However, we end up making the same mistakes over and over again despite our best efforts, not because we are bad people but simply because we are governed by our unconscious behaviors. I believe that the actions of some police officers that use extreme force are ruled by unconscious self-sabotaging behaviors.

This unconscious behavior is like to be immersed in an ocean that Carl Jung called the "Collective Unconscious". MIA is like having a boat where a person can drive consciously toward an objective, navigating over these unconscious behaviors.

We can change the current paradigm of police department by using the MIA teaching methodology in the hiring process, during the current training, using MIA to measuring the changes on a weekly basis, and using MIA to create a template to be replicated in other police departments. 

With over 20 years of research, I have created MIA, a transformational learning teaching methodology that helps people in 4 weeks to observe and change their unconscious self-sabotaging behaviors, then we move into action measuring results through robust research.

I am developing the implementation of MIA at a police department. Here I'll develop a template to be replicated. MIA uses organizational learning techniques that create a systemic approach to effectively address the excessive use of force by police. MIA research shows changes in behavior that I'll document through IT tools.

I am proposing the creation of a mobile App with a platform to measure the changes in behaviors in police officers.

With MIA, police officers become self-aware of their own unconscious bias, they can change the paradigm of excessive use of force and they can achieve success in their jobs, with their families, and gain the trust of their communities.

Neuroscience states that 95 to 98% of our actions are unconscious. However, after 4 weeks of doing MIA consistently, a person achieves a state of complete awareness. Only then, we begin to address challenges while measuring results. 

I'm developing the implementation of MIA at the Greensboro Police Department (794 people) where we'll use MIA in recruiting, training, evaluating, and supporting police officers in their roles to reduce the use of excessive force.

To decreasing unnecessary and adverse law enforcement encounters, through the Office of Community Engagement, teaching MIA to parents to navigate the school system for students to get out of the school-to-prison pipeline because nationally 290,600 students were referred to law enforcement agencies or arrested during the 2015-16 school year, and do MIA with unhoused people because a report from The Oregonian revealed that 52% of all arrests in 2017 were people identified as homeless (Woolington & Lewis, 2018).