Nikelle Murphy
New York City Police Academy
cadets attend their graduation ceremony | Andrew Burton/Getty Images
It’s difficult to watch the news
or read the newspaper for a week without seeing a story of alleged police
brutality or a case where misunderstandings between citizens and officers
spiraled wildly out of control, putting lives in danger on both sides of the
handcuffs. Jobs as an officer are undoubtedly some of the most stressful and
dangerous, especially in the charged climate of strained relationships between
departments and the communities they are sworn to serve in many cities across
the nation.
In light of this, the most
influential minds in law enforcement agree that changes need to be made in how
police officers are prepared for their jobs. When we dig past single current
events, we start to see a training system that is in need of some significant
improvements. However, the focus needs to be on system-wide improvements,
rather than placing the blame at the feet of individual officers, wrote Ronald
Davis, the director of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (a
division of the United States Department of Justice).
“If we are to achieve real and
sustainable reform in law enforcement, our focus must shift from the police
(those individuals sworn to uphold the law) to policing systems (the policies,
practices, and culture of police organizations),” Davis wrote in an open letter
to his colleagues around the nation. With that in mind, we took a look at some
of the suggestions that officers and academics have given in recent months for
improving the way officers are prepared for their jobs. They might not account
for every incident gone wrong, but could ward off unnecessary conflict or
violence.
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