The History of Police Recruit Training
Law enforcement training has progresses from the very early days of law enforcement, when law enforcement and military reign had inseparable ties and military officers served police functions. Officers in those days learned how to fight and how to wield a sword. Today police recruits attend police academies that can last several months and cover topics from constitutional law to drug identification.
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Before 1920
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In the very early days of law enforcement in the United States, if a recruit met the basic requirements of becoming a police officer, he was given a badge and a gun and sent out to be a police officer. As described in the history of the Los Angeles Police Academy, officers learned by trial and error, and from other officers with more experience.
1920 to World War II
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During the 1920s and Prohibition, organized crime became a problem for law enforcement. According to the National Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Fund, more than 1,800 police officers died in the line of duty during the 1920s. In 1924 and 1925, large cities began creating rudimentary police training programs. The program in Los Angeles started in 1924 without a classroom space. The training at that time consisted mostly of firearms training. Some colleges, including the University of California Berkeley and the University of Chicago, began offering classes in police science and criminology during the late 1920s that police departments encouraged officers to attend.
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World War II to 1970s
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The City of Anaheim's website indicates that the start of World War II motivated Anaheim's chief of police to recruit additional officers in case of foreign invasion. The new officers met with experienced law enforcement to get trained in case they needed to assist in civil defense. During the 1940s Anaheim's department, like many others, had new officers meet with an attorney who taught them basic criminal law. Much of the training, however, still happened inconsistently. In 1959, the state of New York became the first state to make basic police recruit training legally mandatory.
1990s and Early 2000s
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Typical classes at a modern police recruit academy include academics, driving, firearms, human relations, law, physical training and tactics. In classes at the Los Angeles Police Academy and most other academies around the United States, recruits learned about report writing, handling emergency situations, sensitivity to cultural issues, legal issues of search and seizure, arrest and constitutional rights in addition to the hands-on physical training involved with police weapons from Taser pistols to pepper spray and rifles. Recruits also learned about technology including preserving evidence for biological testing, alcohol and drug detecting instruments and laser speed detection.
Future of Police Training
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As of 2010, law enforcement agencies require more recruits to have college degrees than they did in the past, and the pre-recruit level of education will continue to advance. Police departments will continue to expect recruits to bring skills to initial training that can be enhanced with specific education to create police officers with not only a basic knowledge of law and technology, but also highly sophisticated specialized knowledge that will allow them to focus on specific areas of crime with ever greater focus and expertise.
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References
- Photo Credit blue police lamp image by green308 from Fotolia.com
