BY: CLAIRE KIM
According to a recent Instagram post, I read yesterday…
In Norway, “they require 3 years of training to become a police officer. Between 2002-2016 they had 4 fatalities caused by the police.”
In Finland, a “3-year degree is required to become a police officer. 7 people were killed by police between 2000-2018.”
In Germany, “2 years of training [is required] to become a police officer. 267 people died by police shooting since 1990.”
In the US, “you need a high school diploma and approximately 2 weeks of training. 1,004 were killed in 2019 alone.”
Please reflect on this last statement…
While countries like Norway, Finland, Germany, and hundreds not listed on here require years of training to officially become a police officer, the US requires less than 1 year, not even half a year, not even a quarter of the year, but 2 WEEKS to get a police badge and carry an armed weapon. No matter how intense or thorough these 2 weeks are, no person, man or woman, should be able to become a police officer that quickly. Time is needed for individuals to grow in maturity and think whether this opportunity will be used for the betterment of society. When demanding only 2 weeks of training, we as a country lose touch of the importance of police officers, diminishing their value in society and vice versa the police officer’s perspective on the importance of their role as “protectors” of their community.
Now, if this timeline of training didn’t create chaos or cases of murder this would not be this great of an issue, but the fact that over 1,000 people have died from police brutality in only ONE year is genuinely unacceptable and a reason to get upset at the current criminal justice system.
We, members of a community, pay taxes in hopes of funding and sustaining a safe and strong police force, willing to protect us when we feel threatened or in danger. But, what happens when the threat or danger is the police force? Then, who will actually protect us?
Any person’s life taken away, not from natural circumstances, is considered a murder. Whether it be classified as a first-degree, second-degree, or third-degree murder, we need to understand that regardless of the case, when someone wrongly loses their life, a murder has occurred, even if the perpetrator is a police officer.
US Police need more training, and truly, this isn’t a statement up for debate.
claire kim. 