In the past 60 years, the pendulum of public opinion has swung rapidly and widely. The need for police to handle everything from the war on drugs to increased mental health response can seem to follow the whims of the media or politicians. Calls for warrior-style enforcement of law and order rapidly shift to demands for guardian-style community oriented policing, and, more recently, pressure for co-response and defunding altogether.
President Obama’s 21st Century Policing Report suggests a balance is needed, discussing the role of tactics as no more important than attitude, tolerance, and interpersonal skills. These ‘soft’ skill categories get a comparable nod in most academies and the public has noticed, causing the pendulum to swing once again towards increasing training for more guardians and less warriors in policing.
Yet even with reactionary policies — some more meaningful than others — academy training continues to take a one-size-fits-all approach, with virtually no consideration for the geographic variances of a class of recruits. There is still no federal body regulating academy curriculums across states, and the skills and lessons taught are often imbalanced according to the realities of the job. Even when courses are added for things like community policing, procedural justice, or de-escalation, the focus is still largely on tactics with a…
