Bill seeks "crash course" in police training for those with military background

While I like the general thought, a 30 hour training course for cops is a horrible idea. There are too many things to learn. The driving course alone is 40 hours, another 60 for weapons training. Learning the law and all it’s idiosyncrasies takes weeks, if not months to learn.

The only way that I can see this being successful is if they still had to pass the same POST exams as the regular academy graduates.

In California, out of state police officers can avoid going to our Academy if they came from a state with POST requirements and if they pass our POST academy tests. They must show proficiency in 30 different learning domains to be certified by the state. If Missouri does something like that then it could be a successful program. But Military law enforcement and civilian law enforcement are not similar enough to say that a 30 hour course will make a person fully qualified to be a police officer.

In reading the article, the program s focused on former military law enforcement personnel. As with all things, success will rest in the details and the execution.

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel Military service has always carried credits in the civilian world, but as a former full time police officer after 23 years of military service, I still had to go through the full 16 weeks at the Vermont State Police Academy. There is no way a one week class will suffice. Just look what an officer must be proficient in to graduate, Criminal Law, Motor Vehicle Law, Juvenile Law, Accident investigation, Control and restraint, Domestic Violence response, Advanced weapons training, Physical fitness training, Use of deadly force training, High speed driving and pursuit training, crime scene training, and lets not forget all the certifications needed and not limited to; Radar use, CPR, First aid, etc. Now, even when this is done and you graduate, there is FTO (Field Training Officer) work where a certified FTO must sign off that you are fit to go out solo! So, I do not think military service and one week of training for a full time position in a PD/Sheriff Dept. will work!