5 ms·

Mixed feelings... police in the US are woefully/tragically undertrained relative to police in Europe. 3-4 months is typical for a police academy in the US. Plu

Mixed feelings... police in the US are woefully/tragically undertrained relative to police in Europe. 3-4 months is typical for a police academy in the US. Plus 6 months or so with a field training officer for basic on-job training. Compared to 2.5 years of the same in Germany. College may not be the right answer, but the current system of very little training isn't working.

SoftTalker 4y ago
If they could put the money and time they spent on college into actual on-the-job training/academy maybe it would. State law enforcement academies are really only using college degrees as a filter that the person is capable of attending class, learning, and passing exams. That's what graduating high school used to show. But now nobody doesn't graduate high school, unless they drop out.
htek 4y ago
Also, tragically, people go to college wanting to get into law enforcement are working at cross purposes to what police departments want to hire: less intelligent cops. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/too-smart-to-be-a-cop/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/too-smart-to-be-a-cop/
xyzzyz 4y ago
Being a cop in Germany is much easier and less risky job than in US, because they have 50% more cops per capita while having something like 15% the crime rate of US. This means that, as a very rough estimate, there is something like 16 times more crimes per cop in US than in Germany. This is made even worse by things like US criminal being much more insane and erratic than German ones (Germany has a more collectivist, order-oriented culture, and will institutionalize miscreants much faster and for much less serious offenses than US will), and case overload forcing US cops to focus on the worst cases and worst offenders first. For this reason, more people in Germany will put up with strict credential requirements and low pay than in US. To make police force more professional in the US, we first need to stop most crime, and for that, we need to hire a lot of police (to bring the crimes-per-cop ratio closer to low crime countries), and massively increase incarceration of repeat offenders, who are responsible for the bulk of the crime. It will be extremely hard to both hire more police and also to make standards higher: you’ll end up with highly professional cops who are too busy to help you unless you’re being actively murdered.
- Retric 4y ago
  It’s very difficult to compare numbers between countries like this because of different definitions. In the US are INS or FBI agents cops, what about secret service agents dealing with counterfeiters or protecting the president? How about detectives, dispatchers, part timers, managers etc. This is why you will see wildly different number of how many cops there are in the US generally it’s between 600k and 1 million but there’s many different counts. When comparing things to Germany simply don’t see a 1:1 fit for what’s a US law enforcement officer.
- itqwertz 4y ago
  There is an active political element in the U.S. that believes that “defunding” police is the answer. While they may have some valid arguments, they don’t see things from your perspective at all. We had city-burning protests for months for a career criminal high on illegal drugs committing crime. In a few days after, there were worldwide protests and political statements (GF portraits on the Berlin Wall?!?). Those that support this obvious push towards more chaos and police oversight have deep pockets and international reach. Real change in the US comes from tragedy and money.
  - gloryjulio 4y ago
    [flagged]
    - itqwertz 4y ago
      Due process started with the liquor store rightly calling the police about receiving a counterfeit bill from an intoxicated individual and the police questioning the suspect. When your culture tells you to resist, and you do, you have given up due process.
      - nooron 4y ago
        the society you get by deciding that tired jocks with guns and a 2-4x of baseline rate of domestic violence and an unstoppable union should get to decide what due process is bad. law enforcers should have to follow the law. also I am willing to bet you don’t know much about due process because there is no way you’re an attorney but I’ll eat my shoe if you show me where you’re licensed to practice law.

SoftTalker 4y ago

If they could put the money and time they spent on college into actual on-the-job training/academy maybe it would. State law enforcement academies are really only using college degrees as a filter that the person is capable of attending class, learning, and passing exams. That's what graduating high school used to show. But now nobody doesn't graduate high school, unless they drop out.

htek 4y ago

Also, tragically, people go to college wanting to get into law enforcement are working at cross purposes to what police departments want to hire: less intelligent cops. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/too-smart-to-be-a-cop/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/too-smart-to-be-a-cop/

xyzzyz 4y ago

Being a cop in Germany is much easier and less risky job than in US, because they have 50% more cops per capita while having something like 15% the crime rate of US. This means that, as a very rough estimate, there is something like 16 times more crimes per cop in US than in Germany. This is made even worse by things like US criminal being much more insane and erratic than German ones (Germany has a more collectivist, order-oriented culture, and will institutionalize miscreants much faster and for much less serious offenses than US will), and case overload forcing US cops to focus on the worst cases and worst offenders first. For this reason, more people in Germany will put up with strict credential requirements and low pay than in US. To make police force more professional in the US, we first need to stop most crime, and for that, we need to hire a lot of police (to bring the crimes-per-cop ratio closer to low crime countries), and massively increase incarceration of repeat offenders, who are responsible for the bulk of the crime. It will be extremely hard to both hire more police and also to make standards higher: you’ll end up with highly professional cops who are too busy to help you unless you’re being actively murdered.

Retric 4y ago
It’s very difficult to compare numbers between countries like this because of different definitions. In the US are INS or FBI agents cops, what about secret service agents dealing with counterfeiters or protecting the president? How about detectives, dispatchers, part timers, managers etc. This is why you will see wildly different number of how many cops there are in the US generally it’s between 600k and 1 million but there’s many different counts. When comparing things to Germany simply don’t see a 1:1 fit for what’s a US law enforcement officer.
itqwertz 4y ago
There is an active political element in the U.S. that believes that “defunding” police is the answer. While they may have some valid arguments, they don’t see things from your perspective at all. We had city-burning protests for months for a career criminal high on illegal drugs committing crime. In a few days after, there were worldwide protests and political statements (GF portraits on the Berlin Wall?!?). Those that support this obvious push towards more chaos and police oversight have deep pockets and international reach. Real change in the US comes from tragedy and money.
- gloryjulio 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - itqwertz 4y ago
    Due process started with the liquor store rightly calling the police about receiving a counterfeit bill from an intoxicated individual and the police questioning the suspect. When your culture tells you to resist, and you do, you have given up due process.
    - nooron 4y ago
      the society you get by deciding that tired jocks with guns and a 2-4x of baseline rate of domestic violence and an unstoppable union should get to decide what due process is bad. law enforcers should have to follow the law. also I am willing to bet you don’t know much about due process because there is no way you’re an attorney but I’ll eat my shoe if you show me where you’re licensed to practice law.