Given some of the controversies around poorly trained police, I'm not sure the problem here is that it takes too long to become a police officer. Rather, there

Given some of the controversies around poorly trained police, I'm not sure the problem here is that it takes too long to become a police officer. Rather, there aren't enough people trying to become officers, so the normal latency exacerbates issues surrounding the existing officer shortage. The absence of good candidates also drives down the quality of the average candidate, and has downstream affects as you mentioned. Maybe, like with the other trades, something should be done to make the job more appealing, so more people try to enter the pipeline.