According to the Rialto Police Department website “becoming a member of the law enforcement profession takes about two years to complete,” but that includes the background process, the mental and physical assessments, and all of the other qualifying factors, so the amount of time actually training is much less than two years.
The city of Rialto has its fair share of crime, and in some cities where the crime rate is higher like Los Angeles, Long Beach, Manhattan, and the city of Florida they need hundreds more police officers than in Rialto.
In all of these cities, including ours, police need more training so they can stop some of these violent crimes from happening, or even prevent them.
How long do I think they should train, you ask? Well, I've done my fair share of research about police training all over the world, and I’ve found valuable information.
In Sweden police officers train for 2 and a half years, in Japan 2 years, Norway 3 years, Italy 5 years AND they need to have a degree in Law.
To go back to the question at hand, I think policemen should be trained for at least 2-3 years.
I know what you’re thinking “Isn’t that too long?”
No, not at all.
If we want them to do a better job and be better officers then they need more time to learn how to do it correctly, and if it just so happens to take that long then so be it.
In America, we have a high crime rate and with that high crime rate we need policemen. When our policemen have more training they help protect us from these crimes, and save lives, and even help solve these crimes once they are committed.
With the training they are given some don’t have the knowledge of certain situations.
For example, let’s say you are a white police officer, who grew up in a suburban, predominantly white neighborhood with not many POC (people of color).You have completed your months of training and now you're out in the streets with all sorts of people, and you're scared ... you’re scared of how dangerous it is and how “uncomfortable” you feel around these people.
Now you pull a black man over and ask him to show you his identification, but when he tries to show you his i.d. you shoot him because “he looked nervous,” “it looked like he had a gun,” or “it was self defense” … but in reality it was because you were scared.
How are citizens supposed to rely on officers when we know that some can’t be trusted, when we know that some aren’t prepared for situations that will be coming to them?
We should not have to be worried about our families, friends, or ourselves just because someone who should be prepared for every situation, isn’t.
Police need more training, before more lives are lost.