Education, Training, and Police Reform

More and better training tends to be cited in a reflexive, knee-jerk way as an obvious solution (sometimes the obvious solution) to contemporary police problems. This chapter takes a careful and realistic look at police education and training in relation to common criticisms of modern policing, such as excessive use of force, over-enforcement, and racial profiling. It argues that training, by itself, is not likely to have substantial impact on police performance. Other police administrative systems, including supervision, leadership, and discipline have more direct impact on the behavior of police officers. When these other systems are aligned with police education and training, though, real change is most likely, both in the short and long term.