Intersting Blog Posting

A friend of mine sent this link to me today.  It is from the St. Paul Pioneer Press.  There has been discussions for years about how education or the lack of it impacts police officers' conduct and how they go about doing their jobs.

The ability of obtaining an education  in and of itself will not cure all the ills facing the law enforcement community, but it is part of an overall process to address issues of what makes good officers dating all the way back to Woodrow Wilson.

What the article doesn't state; however is most Minnesota law enforcement agencies' starting salaries for police officers is in excess of $50,000 per year; the pension plan is fully vested in 3 years and individuals can retire before they are 60.    There are  generally educational incentives and the POST board in Minnesota is proactive in the ability to provide law enforcement administrators the information necessary on potential candidates and their histories.

The combination of all these factors provides the opportunity for hiring quality officers.  The bottom line; however, still revolves around the community's willingness to invest the dollars necessary to hire and retain quality police officers.  This means good equipment, support by elected officials, the ability of elected officials to stay out of the  law enforcement aspects of the job and to make sure that city administrators and managers  allow police administrators to do their jobs.

There are success stories in other states and communities.  Each community  receives the type of policing they will tolerate or the type they demand of their police agency. A community that promotes integrity through actions and accountability sets the  groundwork to such  an environment in a police agency to happen.  Communities that  want special favors, try to  interfere with the just administration of the law create corrupt environments.

Bottom  line, there is no "silver bullet" for good  cops or police agencies.  It takes a community effort to make this happen and a financial commitment to ensure the long-term success.