Many community colleges have been revamping their law enforcement programs since the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in 2020 drew national attention to update teaching and recruitment efforts.
Some colleges have revamped their training, while others have been more methodical in their recruitment to more accurately reflect the communities they serve. Workforce shortages are also prompting changes in how some colleges are promoting the profession and their programs.
Reflecting the community
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, this year announced it aims to recruit more Black students into law enforcement and emergency medical services programs.
“It is imperative that public safety entities reflect the communities they serve,” says Bob Stakem, executive director of HACC’s public safety center. “Historically, the demographics of the first responders in our region have not reflected the demographics of the citizens being served.”
Each year for three years, HACC will award 12 full-ride scholarships to Black students in the college’s Municipal Police Academy and emergency medical technician program. A $112,500 grant from the PNC Foundation to the college’s foundation is covering the costs.
Overall enrollment in HACC’s police academy has been steady but recruiting cadets of color has been a challenge. The college is working to recruit students for its police academy through high schools, HACC’s criminal justice program and social media.
“Diversifying police departments and emergency medical services (EMS) teams will hopefully improve relationships between first responders and citizens and ultimately the outcomes associated with public safety response,” Stakem says.
HACC also has added instruction related to cultural sensitivity and implicit bias. That’s in addition to the curriculum provided for the police academy, which is governed by Pennsylvania’s Municipal Police Officer Education and Training Commission.
Better service
Many community colleges are well into their plans to improve their law enforcement programs. In North Carolina, the State Board of Community Colleges approved funding in 2020 to provide tools and training in topics like de-escalation and impartial policing through train-the-trainer classes. The goal was to serve North Carolina’s law enforcement agencies by extending additional instruction on implicit bias, impartial policing and collaborative community engagement.
Wake Technical Community College hosted the first “Impartial Policing” regional training sessions, attended by 45 law enforcement instructors from 21 community colleges, as reported in Community College Journal, published by the American Association of Community Colleges.
The sessions have continued, with hundreds being trained to date, and have moved online during the Covid pandemic.
North Carolina law enforcement agencies have long used Wake Tech to train their personnel. The college works closely with partner agencies and stakeholders, such as the U.S. Department of Justice and the North Carolina Community College System, to develop and implement training specific to de-escalation and impartial policing.
“We’re trying to be on the forefront to help solve problems for the policing industry,” says Jamie Wicker, provost of public safety education and chief campus officer of the Public Safety Education Campus.
Beyond gun training
At Wake Tech, de-escalation training is infused into all parts of training, not only through in-service training for seasoned police officers but also for new cadets seeking a career in public safety. At its Public Safety Training Academy, the college has a firearms simulator that allows for reality-based training and emphasizes de-escalation. Trainees learn to see things through the “lens of cultural perspective and how that can impact how people view us and how we view them,” Wicker says.
“We want to truly equip people for a career in law enforcement – not just teach them to fight and shoot,” Wicker says.
This training has been well received by participants. Wicker says people in public safety – whether police officers, firefighters or EMTs – are in the profession to serve.
“We’re open as a profession and industry to anything that helps us better serve the community,” she says.
Related article: Police reform starts with training
In fact, it is training Wicker wishes she’d had upfront, rather than learning through trial and error.
Wake Tech is making another big investment in law enforcement training: it’s currently developing a new campus location with a large public safety simulation complex, which Wicker says is “a direct and tangible manifestation of our commitment to solving problems in public safety.”
Like HACC, Wake Tech also has made a strategic effort to increase diversity in public safety training and across all college enrollment. It is using data to inform policies and procedures and making changes to everything from entry testing and funding, to how students are registered.
It’s something not only the college needs to do but also stakeholder agencies, Wicker says, to avoid having a “cookie-cutter academy.” She adds that she also makes it personal for recruits.
“I tell them there’s a place in public safety for every single person, and we want to help you find that place,” she says.
Responding to workforce shortages
Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) had, until recently, run a Reserve Intermittent Recruit Officer Course Police Academy. Those types of academies are now discontinued in Massachusetts, but workforce shortages persist in policing. There have been more retirements on forces, and the long hours and higher physical standards – and better pay in the private sector – are turning some people off to the job.
To respond to this need, QCC has developed a new police academy to provide entry-level police training for full-time police officers. It is the only Massachusetts community college running its own full-time police academy held on nights and weekends.
The first student officers started training in September. It’s a diverse group: 52% non-white and 17% women. Almost all student officers will have full-time jobs when they graduate, says Captain Joseph P. Cecchi, QCC’s police academy deputy director.
QCC is using a variety of ways to recruit, including snail-mailing pamphlets, having face-to-face conversations with potential students and working with police departments to encourage them to send students to QCC’s academy. The flexibility of the program makes it an easier sell. Though the program is nine months, rather than a typical six-month policing program, people can work or be with their families during the day and attend classes on nights and weekends.
“It’s a different format than most people are used to,” Cecchi says, but it is helping people realize their goal of becoming a police officer.
Because of the flexibility, the academy has fielded questions about the program’s rigor, but Cecchi says it is as rigorous as any other Municipal Police Training Committee-Authorized Police Academy.
Fostering a connection
QCC has eliminated another barrier, too: Student officers must have a sponsor to attend the academy. The college has its own police department, run by Police Chief Kevin Ritacco. He is sponsoring each police recruit after they successfully complete the application process, which includes a vetting procedure.
Cecchi acknowledges the program is a “significant investment” for QCC. Though the college had some equipment from its reserve academy, it still needed to buy vehicles and other police-related equipment. But the program lines up well with QCC’s workforce development programming, Cecchi says.
The curriculum is prescribed by the Municipal Police Training Committee, but Cecchi has ensured that student officers understand who they are serving. They participate in community service activities, such as collecting toys at Christmas for struggling families and helping at the college’s food pantry.
“It’s very important they have a connection with community they’re going to serve,” Cecchi says.
