Crime fighting, police safety, and even career advancement in today’s world rely heavily on training. Legal changes and modern approaches to crime are ever evolving. There are many departments across the U.S. who introduce new training programs and present these opportunities to their ranks, realizing that the success of their departments weigh on the knowledge, understanding, and approach that their officers take towards crime.
Technology is also a growing factor in crime fighting and prevention. Take for example the internet. Many police officers are familiar with email but when it comes to more detailed aspects of cyber space such as web browsing, IP addresses, spoofing, and hacking, knowledge in these areas are often lacking. Therefore police training in diverse areas is vitally important to help solve crime and also protect police privacy. Additionally with advancements in forensic psychology, specialized training in areas such as domestic violence and child exploitation are needed to combat complex social epidemics.
In 1966, John Sullivan published a book titled Introduction to Police Science. In this work, Sullivan wrote:
While a physician may change his diagnosis or prescription, a lawyer may amend his pleadings, and a judge may take days or weeks to render a decision, when a peace officer makes a decision, it frequently must be instantaneous. Therefore, in order to cope with the many complex emergency duties and responsibilities that confront a peace officer in his/her role, the officer cannot depend entirely upon native ability. Instead he or she must be expertly trained to function effectively as an integral part of today’s modern mechanized police force.
Remarkably, the same still applies today for police officers. Officers “must be expertly trained to function effectively as an integral part of today’s modern mechanized police force.” Police officers should understand as many facets of society that will affect their jobs; they must be trained to meet the needs of a wide variety of encounters and situations.
So if your agency is interested in offering training to your department, or you are interested as an individual, there are many resources available. Privacy for Cops has included a list of resources that may be helpful to you or your department:
- The International Association of Chiefs of Police www.theiacp.org
- PoliceTraining.Net http://policetraining.net
- Police One www.policeone.com/training
- Technological Evidence www.technologicalevidence.com