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Stop Training Police Like They’re Joining the Military
If policing is to change, the spotlight must turn toward police academies, where new recruits are first inculcated into the folkways of their profession.
I believe the gist of this article is correct, i.e. many of the problems with modern policing in the United States originates in the police academies.
It is also a mistake I think, when the Federal government arms small to medium size police departments with surplus military weaponry and APC's.
If policing is to change, the spotlight must turn toward police academies, where new recruits are first inculcated into the folkways of their profession.
6/10/20
The majority of law-enforcement academies in the United States are loosely modeled on military boot camps. Proponents of this approach argue that cops are a lot like soldiers: They have to follow orders regardless of their personal feelings; they have to run toward gunfire, not away from it; and they have to remain cool and professional in the face of chaos, threats, and harassment. In this view, paramilitary training takes undisciplined young recruits and turns them into lean, mean fighting machines, ready to handle the rigors of street patrol. In most police departments, paramilitary traditions extend well beyond the academy. Senior police officials commonly refer to patrol officers as “troops,” chain of command is rigidly enforced, and it’s undeniably true that many departments have made enthusiastic use of federal authorities such as the Defense Department’s 1033 Program, which provides surplus military equipment—including armored vehicles and grenade launchers—to domestic law-enforcement agencies. The paramilitary aspects of police culture are so deeply entrenched that most officers and police chiefs take them for granted. But the paramilitary model is as pernicious as it is ubiquitous, and any meaningful approach to police transformation needs to confront it head-on. From their inception, and in contrast to earlier models of law enforcement, these newly created police departments in the 19th century were paramilitary in nature.
From their inception, and in contrast to earlier models of law enforcement, these newly created police departments in the 19th century were paramilitary in nature. Today, a century and a half after the emergence of professional police organizations, American policing is in crisis. As the protesters pouring into the streets are reminding the nation, police in the United States kill roughly 1,000 people a year, a per capita rate of violence unparalleled in other democratic countries. Federal programs that allow the provision of military equipment to domestic police departments are only part of the problem, however. Although tightening the restrictions on such programs would be a good first step, the training that police recruits go through must also be reformed. In another hopeful sign, Washington, D.C., police training is also moving in the right direction. The Metropolitan Police Department has brought civilian teachers and adult-learning specialists into many senior police-academy positions, instead of staffing the academy solely with sworn officers. Georgetown’s Innovative Policing Program teamed up to host a national gathering of police-academy directors from more than 20 major police departments. First up on the group’s agenda: considering alternatives to paramilitary approaches to police training. The topic was controversial, and the discussion is continuing, but it was a start.
I believe the gist of this article is correct, i.e. many of the problems with modern policing in the United States originates in the police academies.
It is also a mistake I think, when the Federal government arms small to medium size police departments with surplus military weaponry and APC's.