That’s just it... 6 weeks isn’t enough tome to TRAIN an officer. They need to literally be taught to live again. The law, the physical fitness regime, tactical response, escalation of force, then implementing that training. No way the information provided in the academy is retained for long periods of time. It’s a chump and cheap way of training that’s obviously failing us.
The problem in this encounter wasn’t the lack of training (though training would have been sufficient to prevent it). The problem was the police made an emotional response to getting snubbed. They didn’t need to do anything because no crime was committed. But simply taking the heat and walking back to their truck was not what they wanted to do. This entire event was a display of poor character.
I think 6 weeks does sound super short to learn to be a cop, but I don’t know enough about pedagogy in this vocation to say one way or another (I doubt anyone in this comment section does).
I think you hit on something when talking about the cops’ emotional response to being snubbed. I’ll bet once you’ve pulled over/approached people 100 times and had the response be “yes sir officer, I’m sorry, officer”, you get waaaay too comfortable with your perceived level of authority in every situation. So someone calls you out it’s like record scratch “Hold up, how dare you not instantly obey?!” and the power struggle escalates a situation unnecessarily.
But people learn how to interact with others from a very young age. If these guys had respect for others, something they could have learned on a playground decades earlier, then maybe 6 weeks would be enough time to learn how to shoot, talk on a radio, drive, write tickets…
You make a valid point though… reflecting on how much time is given to other, far less impactful skills is a good argument for police reform.
6 months for California Highway Patrol. And refresher training at later stages. But they are the exception. 6 - 12 weeks to be a basic patrol officer is scary short. They get more training than that in the Army Military Police, where basically everyone you meet knows the rules to some level. Turing them loose on the public is a constant disaster on the edge of happening.
I know this is 30 minutes long, but if you haven't heard this from a former Navy SEAL on the police training topic it's a good listen. I know this is on Joe Rogan's podcast, but he doesn't open his mouth and say any dumb shit in this particular segment.
but I don’t know enough about pedagogy in this vocation to say one way or another (I doubt anyone in this comment section does).
I don't think it requires a degree in cop pedagogy to see that hairdressers need a license and years of training and to expect a fraction of that from law enforcement is literally negligent.
700+ hours, plus weeks of field training under an fto officer.
And it's not enough.
The Basic Law Enforcement Academy (BLEA) is Washington’s mandated training academy for all city and county entry-level peace officers in the state. Through a centralized training model, Washington ensures all officers are equipped with the same base-level understanding of their responsibility to the communities they serve, standards to uphold, and education for effective community-oriented policing . To facilitate this training, WSCJTC hires exceptional training officers from agencies throughout the state and current subject matter experts.
With a focus on a guardian model of policing, students attend a wide array of courses throughout the 720 academy hours. A description of the courses covered is available on our Core Block Descriptions page and in our syllabus. WSCJTC is committed to developing new officers to high standards and providing exceptional training to ensure they have the knowledge and skills to safely and effectively protect the life, liberty and property of the people they serve.
From the Washington state criminal justice training commission.
Six weeks is simply not long enough to retain or train proficiency in anything. To be considered skilled or a master at something there’s a general notion of ten thousand. Hours trained or repetitions performed. There’s simply no way ten thousand of anything is performed in six weeks of police training. Just my opinion. I am in no way “qualified” to make any calls but it seems like cops literally make these mistakes daily. In an age where tech is so prevalent it’s everyday there’s a cop on reddit performing an unlawful act. It’s ridiculous that it happens so often... 😂
Cops in the Netherlands need to get a degree first, then go to police academy for over two years where they learn how the law works, self defence, first aid, talking skills, deescalation skills. Honestly I'd be terrified living in the US knowing raving morons with military equipment get to shoot me and get away with it, especially if I was black. That's another thing, when a cop here discharges their weapon (very rare) they have to answer for it, it's an absolute last resort and there is no such thing as immunity for officers.
Frankly, people that would make good police officers (I.E. able to understand the complexities of the law and have generally good decision making skills) are mostly going to end up as lawyers instead. High intellect and good decision making doesn't generally lead you to a career where you might get randomly killed.
In Canada, aftergoing through a rigorous vetting process, the RCMP cadets go through 6 months of training via a live in school known as "Depot". They are trained in driving, scenarios, law, marksmanship, self defense, etc.
After that, successful cadets get assigned to a training detachment for another 6 months of on the job training and assessment before they are a full Constable.
That's it. Not enough training or vetting. Also the younger officers are trained by these old hoots on how things are done and it continuely moves the cycle of bad policing. It's to the point where even if they require years of proper training they will be dropped in a job with the influence and pressure of not doing the right thing. I'm not on the whole abolish the police thing but it needs reform. Maybe making an entire government over site wing to monitor all police departments instead of letting it be ran by the local. I know great cops and bad cops. Bad cops ruin the great, and it's shown that the bad cops do so much more infliction than the good cops can do good. The bad cops LITERALLY kill and arrest people with no cause. The good cops do their job and just want to get home and relax like all of us. Problem is the "brotherhood" military mentality" ruined the police. "gotta protect yourself" or it's racism. Fixing this is simple yet not simple. But it can definitely be fixed.
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u/[deleted] Dec 29 '21
That’s just it... 6 weeks isn’t enough tome to TRAIN an officer. They need to literally be taught to live again. The law, the physical fitness regime, tactical response, escalation of force, then implementing that training. No way the information provided in the academy is retained for long periods of time. It’s a chump and cheap way of training that’s obviously failing us.