- Jan 14, 2013
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Well. It starts with how we train them. I don't understand why everybody doesn't want better police, and that means better trained police. This includes the police themselves wanting better police. Who wants to go into a job not trained well enough for it? and that is what we have here in the United States.
www.bbc.com
"How long does police training take?
There are around 18,000 police agencies in the US, but with no national standards on training, procedures and timescales vary across the country.
On average, US officers spend around 21 weeks training before they are qualified to go on patrol.
That is far less than in most other developed countries, according to a report by the Institute for Criminal Justice Training Reform (ICJTR).
The report looked at police training requirements in more than 100 countries and found that the US had among the lowest, in terms of average hours required.
Also, many other countries require officers to have a university degree - or equivalent - before joining the police, but in the US most forces just require the equivalent of a high-school diploma.
In England and Wales, it has recently become mandatory for officers to have an academic degree.
Maria Haberfeld, professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says: "Some police forces in Europe have police university, where training lasts for three years - for me the standouts are Norway and Finland."
Finland has one the highest gun-ownership rates in Europe, with around 32 civilian firearms per 100 people - but incidents of police shooting civilians are extremely rare.
What type of training do police get?
US police academies spend far more time on firearms training than on de-escalating a situation - 71 hours against 21, on average, according to a 2013 US Bureau of Justice Statistics report.
And in the US, the escalation of force is at the discretion of the officer, whereas in countries such as Norway and Finland, there are more rigorous rules as to what is considered justified use of force.
Prof Haberfeld says: "Most of the training in the US is focused on various types of use of force, primarily the various types of physical force. The communication skills are largely ignored by most police academies.
"This is why you see officers very rapidly escalating from initial communication to the actual physical use of force, because this is how they train.""
How US police training compares with the rest of the world
Amid calls to improve training in the US, we examine how it compares with other developed countries.
www.bbc.com
"How long does police training take?
There are around 18,000 police agencies in the US, but with no national standards on training, procedures and timescales vary across the country.
On average, US officers spend around 21 weeks training before they are qualified to go on patrol.
That is far less than in most other developed countries, according to a report by the Institute for Criminal Justice Training Reform (ICJTR).
The report looked at police training requirements in more than 100 countries and found that the US had among the lowest, in terms of average hours required.
Also, many other countries require officers to have a university degree - or equivalent - before joining the police, but in the US most forces just require the equivalent of a high-school diploma.
In England and Wales, it has recently become mandatory for officers to have an academic degree.
Maria Haberfeld, professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says: "Some police forces in Europe have police university, where training lasts for three years - for me the standouts are Norway and Finland."
Finland has one the highest gun-ownership rates in Europe, with around 32 civilian firearms per 100 people - but incidents of police shooting civilians are extremely rare.
What type of training do police get?
US police academies spend far more time on firearms training than on de-escalating a situation - 71 hours against 21, on average, according to a 2013 US Bureau of Justice Statistics report.
And in the US, the escalation of force is at the discretion of the officer, whereas in countries such as Norway and Finland, there are more rigorous rules as to what is considered justified use of force.
Prof Haberfeld says: "Most of the training in the US is focused on various types of use of force, primarily the various types of physical force. The communication skills are largely ignored by most police academies.
"This is why you see officers very rapidly escalating from initial communication to the actual physical use of force, because this is how they train.""
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