Do police officers receive enough training, specifically as it relates to firearms?
Georgetown Law Professor Rosa Brooks does not believe they do.
“Here’s a dirty little secret about cops, they don’t really get much training on how to use their weapons,” said Brooks, who recently appeared on HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher.
“When I went through the police academy, we had two weeks of firearms training,” she continued. “First week was just in the classroom. Second week about three hours a day on the range and then you qualify and you’re done.”
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Brooks, who holds degrees from Harvard (BA), Oxford (MST), and Yale (JD), is also a reserve police officer with the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.
She chronicled her experiences in law enforcement in a new book called, “Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City.”
The problem isn’t just with the initial training cops receive but with the limited ongoing education and instruction throughout their time on the force.
“Twice a year you re-qualify. You watch a few PowerPoints slides as a refresher and you’re done,” explains Brooks.
The result, she insists, is a woefully undertrained department.
“We have a lot of people walking around with lethal weapons who don’t really know what they’re doing,” she said.
Many of you are active LEOs or former LEOs. Interested to hear your perspective on this issue.
Do police officers receive enough firearms training? Do you feel as though you received enough training during your time on the force? If not, what should the training requirements be for new recruits? What about requalification for those on duty? What should that look like?