Training Police and Continuing Education

[Adelaide]

Richard Nixon called police forces “the real front-line soldiers in the war on crime.” Bill Clinton, in his signing ceremony for the 1994 crime bill, called them “the brave men and women who put their lives on the line for us every day.” In 2018, Donald Trump described their job as follows: “Every day, our police officers race into darkened alleys and deserted streets, and onto the doorsteps of the most hardened criminals … the worst of humanity.”

For decades, the warrior cop has been the popular image of police in America, reinforced by TV shows, movies, media, police recruitment videos, police leaders, and public officials.

This image is largely misleading. Police do fight crime, to be sure — but they are mainly called upon to be social workers, conflict mediators, traffic directors, mental health counselors, detailed report writers, neighborhood patrollers, and low-level law enforcers, sometimes all in the span of a single shift. In fact, the overwhelming majority of officers spend only a small fraction of their time responding to violent crime.

However, the institution of policing in America does not reflect that reality. We prepare police officers for ajob we imagine them to have rather than the role they actually perform. Police are hired disproportionately from the military, trained in military-style academies that focus largely on the deployment of force and law, and equipped with lethal weapons at all times, and they operate within a culture that takes pride in warriorship, combat, and violence.

What we train police to do - and what they actually do

This article raises some interesting brought up in my previous thread on the issue; it also supports a few of the ideas behind the proposed police reforms. Continuing education, a shift in how we train police officers, and the inclusion of those with additional or even greater levels of education/professional qualifications.

Here is a fun graphic from the article that shows what the Philadelphia police department responded to in 2015:

Screenshot_2020-08-05 We train police to be warriors — and then send them out to be social.jpg

Trump's own EO supported education and social services. Could there be some middle ground in changing how we train officers?

[Section31]

We trained twice a month. 20 hours. And had roll call training once a week. Most of that was going over use of force policies, vehicle pursuit, operation of emergency vehicles, and law updates. My department ran a tight ship.

[bulletbob]

What we train police to do - and what they actually do

This article raises some interesting brought up in my previous thread on the issue; it also supports a few of the ideas behind the proposed police reforms. Continuing education, a shift in how we train police officers, and the inclusion of those with additional or even greater levels of education/professional qualifications.

Here is a fun graphic from the article that shows what the Philadelphia police department responded to in 2015:

Attachment 30684

Trump's own EO supported education and social services. Could there be some middle ground in changing how we train officers?

you cant train or help with education when morons cut budgets you know.

[Section31]

you cant train or help with education when morons cut budgets you know.

True. When counties and cities cut law enforcement budgets, training is the first to go.

[Tahuyaman]

Training Police and Continuing Education

Instead of defunding, the police need funding restored for better and increased training programs. Police are asked to do more, especially in the area of dealing with the mentally ill, but training programs are being cut to dangerous levels.

[Omar]

Instead of defunding, the police need funding restored for better and increased training programs. Police are asked to do more, especially in the area of dealing with the mentally ill, but training programs are being cut to dangerous levels.

If they want more training, that would suggest more funding to pay for it, not less.

But according to this video linked to on the Black Lives Matter website, they say that police reform has been tried and failed. That the police do not keep them safe, that they only make things worse, and that's why they support defunding and spending the money elsewhere in the communities. Going so far as to saying police reform is not helpful is a pretty hard line stance.

[Tahuyaman]

If they want more training, that would suggest more funding to pay for it, not less.

But according to this video linked to on the Black Lives Matter website, they say that police reform has been tried and failed. That the police do not keep them safe, that they only make things worse, and that's why they support defunding and spending the money elsewhere in the communities. Going so far as to saying police reform is not helpful is a pretty hard line stance.

To most liberal leaders reforms mean doing the same failed actions over and over hoping that one day they work.

[Omar]

To most liberal leaders reforms mean doing the same failed actions over and over hoping that one day they work.

As long as arrests are made, and humans are involved, there are going to be mistakes. I have a feeling BLM would never be satisfied no matter how many improvements are made. Besides, what the people behind BLM really want to do is destroy the "racist" American system and bring in full socialism. I'm not sure they even really care about black lives, it's just a tool for them to usher in radical change, and/or revolution.

[Tahuyaman]

Most people are wanting someone to think "outside the box" and come up with new solutions for old problems. However those same people complain when someone comes along and does just that. That's because those prople threaten the status quo.

[Peter1469]

What we train police to do - and what they actually do

This article raises some interesting brought up in my previous thread on the issue; it also supports a few of the ideas behind the proposed police reforms. Continuing education, a shift in how we train police officers, and the inclusion of those with additional or even greater levels of education/professional qualifications.

Here is a fun graphic from the article that shows what the Philadelphia police department responded to in 2015:

Attachment 30684

Trump's own EO supported education and social services. Could there be some middle ground in changing how we train officers?

What cops do on a daily basis highly depends on where they work. New Orleans is a great example. One police force: NOPD. Very different policing experiences depending on which district you work in.

As example:

2nd District- Uptown and the Garden District: New Orleans is largely mixed resident classes but this area is where the wealthy live in the city limits. There are poor streets all over, but many are families who have paid the house of a generation or longer ago so their expenses are not burdened by rent or a mortgage so their welfare is enough to be comfortable. The crime here is more on the petty side, although murder and rape (especially date (drunk) rape at Tulane and Loyola) are higher than normal. Cops here probably fit into that box above, although crime is higher than normal for the nation.

The French Quarter District (I think it is the 7th District). This is the tourist area so the cops here are picked for their ability to not beat the $#@! of of tourists who piss them off (like they get away with in the black hoods). Their daily routine is nothing like the box above. They do a lot of crowd control (world class at that). They break up a lot of fights. They are good with getting drunk tourists back to their hotel- if you don't piss the cops off they don't take you to jail. And they react to the occasional gun play between gangs who somehow end up in the tourist area and are such bad shots they very rarely hit anyone, even when the streets are packed with people. Robberies and break-ins are common in the unlit areas. At least the last time I checked you can't get renters insurance there.

The 9th Ward and the 5th District (New Orleans East): Both of these are very bad districts. Some of the worse areas to police in the nation. Most of the box above is ignored as there not being the time nor the manpower to deal with them. The cops are also brutal with the locals who mess with them. Since many are crooks they don't complain or they are serial complainers and you know how that goes- the boy who cried wolf. If you turned those cops into social workers they will get killed- literally. The problem in these districts is directly related to two things: the generational property created by the Great Society legislation and the war on drugs.

So when we are thinking about remaking police departments it needs to be done not just on a department by department basis, but at a more local police district basis.