How Police Officers Are Trained.
There has been a misconception for decades that people take the job of police officer because they want to help people and make a difference. There are actually people who are motivated into joining for this reason, but this is by no means the the main reason why people join the police.
People join the police for the same reason that most of us seek employment; they need a job.
People see the position as police office as a secure one in regards to a steady income, good health insurance and a good retirement plan. Most police departments offer these “3” essential benefits. A large part of the population meet the hiring standards for a police officer position.
I have written this post after stumbling upon a video on one of the popular police websites, PoliceOne. The title of the video was “Hunter vs Helper”. I’m not going to link to the video, as it is probably the most bull-crap filled interview I have ever heard on police issues. The video starts off with a man identifying himself as a police officer out of Chicago. He starts his interview off making the statement that most people join for the below reason, “to help people or make a difference”. After hearing this, I knew he had no idea what the hell he was talking about.
Keep one thing in mind, police officers are no different than the rest of the population.
They don't ship us in from another planet, police officers represent the society from which they come.
Police officers bring with them the baggage that life has given them.
Police officers are capable of compassion.
Police officers are capable of bad transgression.
The police officer that you come in contact with is simply a product of his upbringing and his training. Few officers do their job with malicious intent. It’s the few that do, which causes the grief we all have to live through.
Here I will link to the requirements for putting in an application for police officer in the state of Florida.
I will link here to a popular college in South Florida that trains police recruits for many of the cities in the area.
Now , let's talk about police officer training.
Each state decides on how their police officers are trained.
Each state requires that police officers maintain a certification that is based on a requirement of a set number of training hours.
Not all states require the same amount of training hours.
Not all states cover the same content in their courses.
Most importantly, not all police instructors are the same.
The State of Florida requires 770 hours of training in their police academy, which lasts approximately 5 months.
I suppose you have looked at the list of subjects taught and how many hours the course allows on each subject. Interesting to say the least,,,,,,
“Your 21 years old and you’ve now been given a crash course on how to handle the world’s problems, Go Get’m !”
In all fairness, the training continues. After completing the police academy most departments assign new officers to a field training program that consists of riding with a veteran officer for a period of time.
Usually it is three or four months with a different officer each month. These veteran officers are referred to as Field Training Officers.
The new officer is graded at the end of each day by his/her training officer.
Each department uses a different criteria on what factors/category the officer is graded on.
Officers that need extra help in a certain category can be extended in their training and help sought.
Field training officers are usually picked for for certain qualities that they possess in regard to training topics.
”Most importantly, not all field training officers are the same.”
Most cities allot a 5% pay increase for the status of field training officer.
Keep in mind that most cities place a new officer in a probationary status for usually a year while undergoing their post academy training. This probationary status allows the city to release/fire new officers should they come across an issue that does not meet the city’s standards or a training issue that cannot be resolved.
Now let’s talk about some areas where training is lacking;
◆ The Area of Proactive Enforcement
Some people in law enforcement often refer to proactive enforcement as “hunting”. Usually these are the men who know little to nothing about proactive enforcement.
Proactive enforcement is not hunting.
It is a learned skill that involves the use of methods that deter crime, identify criminals, provide liaison between members of the community and the zone officer.
“Proactive enforcement is a police officer taking responsibility for his zone/sector and getting positive results toward a safer zone/sector.”
Becoming proactive in your zone presents two problems right off the bat.
Training in criminal trends and identification is a learned skill. Don’t assume as most people do, that police officers learn all about criminals in the academy. They do not.
You have just seen the training curriculum in detail at the above link, remember only 770 hours. Very few field training officers are experienced in proactive enforcement. If you want to learn proactive enforcement, you will most likely have to seek out the training yourself, often at your own expense.
2. Proactive enforcement is not your first responsibility. Being available to respond to the calls from the public is the police officer’s first responsibility. In most major cities the patrol officer is often too busy handling assigned calls to engage in proactive enforcement.
◆ The Area of Self-Defense
In the academy, they refer to this topic as “ Defensive Tactics”. They give our recruits 80 hours of this. The recruits get just enough training to build their confidence and get their ass kicked in their first real physical encounter. This curriculum has been lacking for many years. I do not blame the defensive tactic instructors. They are limited by the course guidelines and time available to them.
A more common situation than you think, especially these days;
“You have no background in the martial arts, you have had no or few physical encounters in your life. You have led a good life. Six months on the job you find yourself face to face with an individual that has clearly broken a law and he begins to tell you things about your mother that you have never heard before. He’s not getting in the back of your car and your team is minutes away. He knows your predicament better than you do; he’s been through this before. You’re not the first cop he has fought. He knows that your team is minutes away and the clock is running for him. He moves on you.”
The lack of realistic self-defense training in police academies often results in the headlines we see each day, death or shootings of police officers and the citizens they deal with.
When cities are willing to front the cost of training in the academies; they will curb the pain and expense later on down the road.
The premier self-defense training for law enforcement is here.
Send your officers, get them trained.
If you are reading this post and are considering a job on the streets; please look into a self-defense training program. I wrote a post on this topic last week.
Thank you for listening,
John Corley