That is why the program run by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies in Los Angeles at its Museum of Tolerance is so important. The center just hosted 6,000 police officers from around the state in the first year of its program. Designed for doctors, lawyers, healthcare workers and other professionals the program has been dominated instead by police officers in its first 18 months. In one exercise, described by our reporter John Simerman, officers walk into a darkened room. As the discussion unfolds, the room grows lighter and they find themselves in a concentration camp or gas chamber death shower.
Some officers resent the course.
They say its implication is that they are latent brown shirts. But those are a minority of officers. Most recognize that these problems are going to intensify as the state becomes more diverse, and they realize that they need to get in touch with their own feelings as well as understanding the larger issue. Costa County Sheriff's Departments have participated in the museum's program. Organizers would like to get every recruit and many mid-career officers through the program.