Weeding Out the Bad Apples: The Dangers of Law Enforcement Officers Not Receiving Enough Training

Introduction

In recent years, the rate of police killings have climbed exponentially. With police brutality on the rise, many different movements have formed in order to protest the extreme, deadly force that police officers use. The most prolific of these protest groups is Black Lives Matter. The Black Lives Matter Organization was formed in 2013 by Alicia Garza, Patrisse Culors, and Opal Tometi following the acquittal of George Zimmerman1, the man who killed seventeen year old Trayvon Martin. The Black Lives Matter Organization protests following the killings of innocent black men, women, and children by officers of law enforcement. Some of the most prolific cases have been: Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery. So why is it that these killings are occurring so often as of late? Following the killings, police officers have come up with multiple excuses, all along the lines of “I was in fear of mine and my colleagues’ lives.” 

The problem is not that police officers fear for their lives, nor is it that the “criminal” had a gun, or an outstanding criminal record, nor is it that they were resisting arrest. The problem is that these officers of the law do not receive enough training before they receive a uniform, badge, and gun. In order to become a police officer, there is not much training or practice involved. The basic requirements for most law enforcement departments are to gain at least a high school diploma or equivalent, attend police academy, and pass the required examinations2. Most police departments do not even require a college education nor diploma. 

In order to obtain a law degree, lawyers must first earn a bachelor’s degree—which takes four years, then follow by taking an LSAT in order to get into law school for an average of three years3. Following law school, they must take and pass the bar exam with a score of between 262 and 2704. Being a judge takes an even longer amount of time. Most judges go through the motions of law school, and then are a lawyer for several years prior to attempting to gain judgeship5. Why are we seeing such a great divide in our criminal justice system? Why is it that in order to practice and defend the law, you need seven years of education, diplomas, and degrees, however to enforce the law it takes merely twenty one weeks? Law enforcement agencies need to update their requirements. Police officers should be required to gain more education and training before being able to hold a gun and enforce the law. 

The Requirements

The current list of required skill sets and qualifications to become a police officer is quite short. Much shorter than the list of requirements to be a judge or a lawyer. These are the people that we are entrusting to protect and serve. The education of the people that enforce the law is so much shorter and less time constraining than the qualifications of the people entrusted to practice the law. The general minimum qualifications in order to be a police officer, in the United States include:

• U.S. Citizenship6
  • Only United States citizens will receive consideration7
  • Qualified applicants will be required to provide proof of citizenship early in the selection process8
• Must be twenty-one years, but not older than thirty-nine at the time of appointment9
  • Or forty years old if the applicant turns thirty in the same month as their initial appointment10
• Must possess a high school diploma or General Education Diploma (GED)11
• Motor Vehicle License12
  • Must possess, provide, and have maintained a valid United States, state issued driver’s license and show evidence of at least three years of responsible driving experience13
  • Must demonstrate routine driving experience within the most recent three year period14
• Must be registered with the selective service system15
  • Or exempt from registration as a female, due to age, or military status16
  • Those with military service must provide documentation of honorable discharge17
• Must complete a full background investigation18

It is quite evident that the list of requirements to become a police officer in the United States of America is very short. These requirements and qualifications need to be updated. The education of a person enforcing the law and holding a gun while doing so is miniscule compared to the necessary qualifications and requirements of a person practicing the law and defending it.

Concerns of the Public

The safety of the American public is not something that should be taken lightly. When looking at the statistics of police killings by race, it is very concerning to see that black people are being disproportionately killed by law enforcement officers, whether it be by gun or use of deadly force. The list of black people in the United States that have been killed by police officers is long and ever growing. In the years following the murder of George Floyd, a total of 229 people were killed by officers of the law18. That’s a near average of one person per day.

These officers are not properly trained. It does not matter how you look at it, twenty-one weeks is not a long enough time to be trained in holding a firearm and being in deadly situations. The numbers of black people being killed by officers of the law is scary and concerning. 

Training or Racism?

When taking a look at the facts as well as people that have been peacefully brought down by police officers, the question then becomes: is it racism or the amount of training they receive? Take, for example, Kyle Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse is a seventeen year old man who had his mom drive him across state lines to attend a Black Lives Matter protest20. At this protest, Rittenhouse took an assault rifle and opened fire on the crowd. There was an abundance of police presence at this protest, especially because of how rowdy they had been getting at the time20. Even with Rittenhouse opening fire, killing two people, and injuring another, law enforcement officers were able to take him down peacefully, and he did not even have a scratch on him20.

This is only one example of the countless number of white people that police have been able to peacefully apprehend even while doing something that is both against the law and harmful to other citizens. This proves that maybe the training isn’t truly the problem, and the heart of the issue is the bias that some law enforcement officers hold against people of color.

To Fix The Issue

In order to fix the issue, there are a multitude of implementations that can be added to police training. Law enforcement officers should be required to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. There is no single other profession that does not require at least two years of higher education, especially a profession as dangerous as a police officer. If lawyers and judges have to be in school for a minimum of seven years to practice and protect the law, then it is only fair that police officers be required to receive a higher education as well.

Many arguments concerning law enforcement and the Black Lives Matter movement is that it is only a few bad apples, and not the entire police force. If this is the case, then it should be a requirement that law enforcement agencies weed out these said bad apples. Students at Harvard Law School created what is called the Implicit Association Test (IAT). The IAT is a tool that allows people to uncover cognitive biases21. It should be required that law enforcement officers complete the IAT before being considered for a job on the police force.

Along with IAT, law enforcement officers should be required to take and pass a polygraph based upon questions regarding personal biases against people and how it will affect their jobs. It does not matter how well hidden you keep your biases, if a bias is present, there should be no way that a person is able to become an enforcer of the law.

Along with a polygraph and IAT, people applying to law enforcement agencies should be subjected to an in depth psychiatric evaluation. These people are handling guns and peoples’ lives day in and day out. Mental health is an extreme concern, especially in today’s world.

The police department receives funding from tax payer dollars. This money can be used to pay for the tuition of officers once they are accepted onto the force. Just as the military pays for its service members to attend college or university, the police departments should do the same thing. 

Conclusion

There is a painstakingly obvious issue at hand regarding law enforcement. These issues are quite easy to handle, if only policy writers and police departments are willing to put in just the slightest amount of effort to achieve this. The duty of police officers in the United States is to protect and serve, however a lot of officers use their badge, uniform, and gun as some kind of power trip. This is unfair to the people of America that they are supposed to be protecting.

The requirements and training for agents of law enforcement needs to be extended exponentially. It does not make sense in any world that the people that are practicing the law are required to learn it for a minimum of seven years meanwhile the people that are enforcing this law don’t even train for an entire year. Half of a year is nowhere near enough time to train to handle peoples’ lives and hold a gun in life or death situations.