SDMNEWS will always confront and examine. The Critical Thinking Series is about information but more importantly a perspective that will lead to better questions. In the defund of the police conversation, what would be the cost for raising the training requirements for an occupation who’s main tool of the trade is a lethal weapon called a GUN. In contrast the Barber, has 450 more hours of training for use of scissors. Huh?
Both of these occupations come with employer requirements. We’re wondering if de-education of the barber, the less hours barbers have will have nothing to do with their performance and obligation to yet render supreme customer service. Their employer still require them to treat ALL customers fairly and represent the company to the best of their ability according to their company policy. This of course allows one to be rated highly, increase employee morale with company incentives like bonuses.
When Barbers and cosmetologist got de-educated, they did not say, “Ok so, when you need us don’t complain if there isn’t a booking available,” or some punitive reaction. They are still obligated and expected to render top service and professionalism. The police’s reaction to defunding is “Don’t complain if a cop doesn’t show up.” In other words, don’t expect good customer service nor decent customer relations. The cops are attached to taxpayer money in the weirdest way it seems. Not like other occupations that have more training requirements.
So if Law Enforcement is an occupation, my guess is that once a cop is transferred from a beat into adminstrative duties, i.e. desk job, then both are about serviceing customers. That would mean that extensive training which is essential for all their duties and should carry the same amount of training if they come in contact with the public. Taxpayers expect higher standards of service from their police departments.
The Wrong Training
On average, police spend nearly one-third of their training on combat tactics. Many law enforcement training curricula focus on preparing for the potential of a threat or threats derived from statistically singular or anecdotal events. This heavily impacts the perceptions, biases, opinions, and attitudes that law enforcement officers carry into their interactions with the public. Absent immediate criminal justice training reform, we will all remain complicit in the racially biased, stereotypical depictions and dehumanization of African Americans, and other minorities, that provoke a falsely-heightened, adversarial perception of threat.
“Police officers are being trained to react when a threat is merely possible, instead of probable.”
A Crisis in Mental Health
At least 25 percent of all people killed by law enforcement officers exhibited signs of mental illness. In one year alone that is more than 275 people. Yet, officers on average spend only 10 hours training for mental health crisis intervention.
TRAINED TO BE SCARED
It is tragic when an officer is killed in the line of duty. To prevent further tragedies within the police force, trainers review policies and training methods to stop similar occurrences in the future. While this evaluation is needed and required, over time a near infinite number of threat scenarios are generated for training. Therefore, the focus of much law enforcement training is on preparation for threats that are perceived because of singular or anecdotal events. Concentrating on these singular events places officers in a constant state of fear.
Data in article is from trainingreform.org
The San Diego Monitor-News has been serving Black San Diego since 1986
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