Police Training Importance

What is the importance of training in law enforcement and what kind of an impact can it have on law enforcement officers and the communities they serve? Training is important in any line of work, especially one where you have to make split second decisions that could be the difference between life and death. When an individual has that much power in their hands, communities want them to be the best they can be at their job. Many researchers around the country feel the same way and have published findings that concur. Training is constantly developing and something that an officer can never have enough of. “During the sixty-year period under consideration we have seen a gradual but generally increasing interest in and development of law enforcement training.” (Brereton, G. H. 1961) The need for having trained and educated officers has risen over the years as technology has advanced and political correctness has become so important in this line of work. “So broad are the problems with which the police must deal that …show more content…
Obviously, there are a great many things that can be learned only by experience, but there is a host of things a man can learn through instruction which will make his experience much more valuable and successful.” (Stone, D. C. 1934) A police officer is a profession where interaction with the community is majority of what the job entails. Community policing is a result of this. Community policing is a systematic assignment of officers in particular areas in the community, therefor allowing them to become more familiar and create a relationship with people in that area. (Jacoby, J. E…1995, March) People like to think of police training as learning how to arrest people or write tickets, but many do not realize that community policing is training in