When groups of Chicago police officers took an eight-hour training course on updated de-escalation and use-of-force policies, they did what comes naturally to anyone who is asked to sit in class after working for 15 days in a row or completing a night shift: They fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the officers who were wide awake and paying attention didn’t exactly get a fresh perspective. The sessions ultimately reinforced an age-old “us-vs-them” mindset that hampers any possibility of goodwill between officers and the people they serve, according to a newly-released report from community representatives on Chicago’s Use-of-Force Working Group.

Although Chicago Police Department policies may have improved, the “us against them” mindset values an officer’s life more than a citizen’s and wrongfully casts residents as potential threats, last week’s 24-page report concluded. The working group was convened after the federal consent decree in 2019 ordered the CPD to implement sweeping reforms.

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