Super quick thing because I wrote a massive comment and it got deleted and I’m confused why so I’m posting it here for myself just to have it somewhere (mostly because of the amount of research I put into the fucking thing)
You are right that I specifically and purposefully generalized from the first comment, so lets take a very specific look at Alabama, the first state listed alphabetically, and a fair starting point, but also before we start we should review my original comment, which was “there are states where hairdressers are required to have twicethe amount of training cops do.” Again this was a generalized statement, which did not argue that there were NOT states that required more basic training for law enforcement, only that there were states that required less. Interestingly enough, the first state clicked on in an alphabetic list proved my point, which I will be demonstrating shortly.
On your other point: length of training absolutely equals quality (and worth) of training, the more you practice something the better you get at it, the more time spent learning something the easier it is to remember it, so for example in order to be licensed to become a barber in Alabama one is required to have not only 1000 hours of study, but also 2000 hours of apprenticeship assuming one studies for eight hours a day for five days a week that means that in Alabama they will be licensed seventeen months from their start date. For one to work eight hours a day without a single day off it would take a year and a half. If they were to study every day for 24 hours a day with two days a week off it would take five and a half months, and if they were to study every day for 24 hours a day it would take four months. Not only are both of the latter two responses completely unfeasible due to basic sleep requirements, the only one that falls under your states basic law enforcement training guidelines is the option that has a person training for 24 hours a day every day on an assumed 30 day month period. To reiterate that’s considered your basic training requirements to literally just do hair.
As you have stated the basic training required to be a police officer in YOUR state is a minimum of five months, which is still less than the basic requirements for one to get a barbers license in Alabama (in fact the only time it is equitable or more than requirement is if the hairdressing trainee is going to study for 24 hours a day for 22 days a month, or if they are going to study for 24 hours a day on a thirty day month, both of which are absolutely impossible). but what if we were to look specifically at Alabama’s requirements? Here is a direct quote from North East Alabama Law Enforcement Academy “ The Alabama Peace Officers’ Standards and Training requires law enforcement training consisting of 13 weeks of intensified classroom and field work designed to qualify the newly employed law enforcement officer in the “basics” of law enforcement.” and another quote “The Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy was established in 1972 pursuant to the passage of the Minimum Standards Act in 1971 by the State of Alabama” So again, the requirements of basic training at this particular Law Enforcement Academy are compliant with Alabama’s minimum standards for BASIC training. Interestingly enough 13 weeks of basic training amounts to three months and a week. Which is not only less of a time requirement than the hypothetical sleepless barber in training (who never takes even an hour off) but even assuming that the trainee attending The Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy never slept and never got an hour off for thirteen weeks the hours that trainee spent training would still only amount to 2184 hours of basic training. Which not only completely impossible due to even just basic sleep requirements it is also still LESS than the required amount of basic training to become a licensed barber (a hairdressing position I used because it is the most basic training of all training) In fact it turns out that the BASIC amount of law enforcement training required by Alabama law is 520 hours. To reiterate even without the 2000 hours of apprenticeship required by Alabama state law to obtain your basic barbers license you are required to have 1000 hours of basic training, which makes it just slightly less than TWICE the amount of training. (WOAH THERE I THINK I PROVED MY POINT)
Heres a list of graduation requirements from The Northeast Alabama Law Enforcement Academy “Graduation Requirements
To graduate from the LEA’s Basic Course, you must meet the APOSTC mandated basic course requirements as specified in APOSTC Rule 650–X–4–.01. These requirements include:
- An overall score of not less than 70% on written exams.
- Pass the first aid exam with a score of not less than 70%.
- Pass the legal issues exam with a score of not less than 70%.
- Pass the physical agility/ability test.
- A score of at least 70% on the firearms course.
- Students shall not be absent more than 5% of the required training hours.
- The trainee. . .shall comply with all rules and regulations promulgated by the approved academy. “
So to really quickly look at this it seems that there are three written tests, (each on a totally different topic) one physical test and one firearms test they need to pass, assuming each of those things are taught and practiced completely equally and without bias that would mean that of the 520 required learning hours only 104 are devoted to each section. This includes Firearms, so to reiterate, it takes 1000 hours of doing nothing but holding and using scissors before you are even allowed to apprentice yourself to someone in Alabama after which it is required that you have an additional 2000 hours so that you can gain your basic license. A person training in Law Enforcement in the state of Alabama who has spent a total of 520 hours devoted to five completely different things and shared the lesson time equally between them has potentially practiced for 104 hours with a gun. That is very nearly 1/10th of the same time (not including apprenticeship which when included would put it at only 3% of the same time) required to gain a BASIC license for being a barber. The real fun part though? The lessons aren’t provided completely equally. Here is the exact breakdown of what each hour of their training is devoted to. (Note I have not copied and pasted the entire 520 hour breakdown, and have provided only a small part of it, however I will be providing the full breakdown of the firearms training, as listed on the website in the link below)
Law Enforcement Ethics and Professionalism | 4 hours | |
First Aid (Includes C.P.R certification in accordance with American Heart Association or Red Cross Standards) | 8 hours | |
Domestic Violence | 4 hours | |
Victims of Crime and Leniency | 2 hours | |
Community/News Media Relations | 2 hours | |
Receiving and Handling Complaints | 4 hours | |
Laws of Arrest, State & Federal Criminal Procedure | 8 hours | |
Interrogations & Confessions (5th & 6thAmendments) | 4 hours | |
U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights & Constitution Principles | 2 hours | |
Title 15, Criminal Procedure | 2 hours | |
Title VII: ADA/Sexual Harassment | 1 hour | |
Officer/Violator Contact | 2 hours | |
Finally PRODUCED IN FULL DIRECTLY OFF THE WEBSITE:
Firearms Training | Total 47 hours | ||
Firearms Qualification | 27 hours | ||
Close Combat/Night Firing | 12 hours | ||
Shotgun Familiarization | 4 hours | ||
Patrol Rifle Familiarization | 4 Hours | ||
*Students who are re-taking firearms will attend the 43 hour firearms training and qualification course. | |||
A total of forty seven hours of training with a lethal weapon. That’s it, that is all that is required by Alabama State Law. Again, there are 1000 hours required before someone can even begin to apprentice as a barber, so in 4.7% of the time it takes to be considered able to cut hair under someone else’s guidance (you will not even be considered for an actual license until 2000 hours from there), you will be considered basically trained in firearms.
I just wanted to reiterate my original comment in full (though I have now added links as proof) “I know someone on here said it but I’m not totally sure where so I cant link it, but there are states where hairdressers are required to have twice the amount of training cops do. How does that even happen? We are handing lethal weapons to these men and women and are giving them next to no training.”
Links for quotes and what I discussed here:
Cosmetology requirements:
http://www.beautyschoolsdirectory.com/faq/license_al...
North East Alabama Law Enforcement Academy (when navigating this site the home page contains my original quotes, clicking the basic training tab and scrolling down will show the graduation requirements (which I have partially reproduced) , returning to the top and clicking the embedded link to the 520 hour basic training curriculum will show the exact breakdown of what each hour is devoted to (some of which I have partially reproduced, barring the firearms section which I reproduced in full))