edcunited1878
Full Member
Will the job changes you though? I don't think anyone joining the police are looking to brutalize people from the get go
Did it used to be or is it still the case that a fair number of recruits come from the military and I'm sure they are screened very effectively but perhaps the odd one who enjoys confrontation gets through. Then there are the inadequate ones who might normally be desk bound (I'm sure I noticed a fairly obese cop popping away with a bean bag gun on a vid) who is a bit unreliable.
Otherwise it is being encouraged by their President to get their yearly target practice completed on moving targets.
I think in America in particular that is exactly what is happening. Imagine knowing you can get a job with no qualifications, have little to no discipline, get relatively well paid, progress and get paid more, carry guns, drive cars fast, smash peoples doors in, get into fights and then on top of that never be held accountable when you feck up. Imagine the sorts that will appeal to. It's a sad but real consequence that a lot of men will join the police purely for the power. The only way you stop this is via a stricter recruitment policy.
Something that's happening in the UK. Dunno how many are aware but in the UK it is now compulsory to have a degree to be a police officer. You can join without one but you have to undergo studying for the first three years and attain a degree in policing. Now that's not going to solve all the problems at that recruitment stage but it will definitely weed out a significant amount of what I can only to describe as'wrong uns'. I can't see certain brutes and cowboys being happy to study and write essays in their time off work to become a police officer. Doubt America will ever adapt such a policy though.
Joining the police in the U.S., especially if you are part of a larger metro city PD (e.g. NYC, SF, LA, D.C., Chicago, etc.) does change you. It's near impossible not to change you because you see what humans are capable of doing and it goes pretty much against what you believe and know growing up or usually have witnessed first-hand. Assuming you're 22 or 23 when you join, that's still a really, really young age. Physical, emotional, intellectual, and real world inexperience. Then you're put into an institution such as public law enforcement, it's a complete mind feck. Your reality is much different than others and you see things differently.
Recruits still come from backgrounds of basic training, which includes Sheriff's Departments and all military. It's a natural path way because of the use of language/terms, basic training, hierarchy structure, etc. However, just like the military has evolved within the past decade, at least, having degrees and post-high school education helps significantly. And knowing a second or third language. There are young recruits, mostly men, who do get the rush of blood and arrogant feeling, but that doesn't mean they are left for their own. Many people also join the police in their mid to late 20s as a last ditch effort to get a career going that provides stability, men and women.
One thing that plagues police departments, which is then transferred or expressed, towards the public is the lack of internal support for PTSD, consistent emotional/psychological support, and more immersive training the more time they stay in the force. Physically, they usually decline, but mentally and socially, they stay the same. They don't learn what's going on in the community or how to adapt, relate. And how those learnings of civilian life should translate into how they police more effectively and efficiently. They live in their own bubble and when they don't step out from behind the badge and out of their bubble, they aren't vulnerable. They stop learning and knowing what their civic duty really means. Without this, it's about protecting the badge and the "Blue Lives Matters" becomes very tribalistic, which can be a problem.