Police officers are responsible for protecting the citizens of their community. Anyone with at least a high school diploma or a two-year college degree (though it’s not required) can sign up to become a police officer. This should be alarming to people within societies in poverty because it’s in the officers hands to provide care for all civilians.

“I think that police officers should have to go through more training,” senior DeAnthony Robinson said. “There are a lot of irrational people in the police force who can’t make quick, moral decisions.”

The criminal justice system has many improvements to make and who they hire to become police officers is one of them. Police departments should seriously consider making psychology and sociology classes more available to officers,

While additional training would require more time to qualify a police officer, it would ensure the safety of all civilians. Police academy training will consist of intense workouts and extreme disciplinary attitudes. While the physical capability of an officer is significant to the job, it is also critical that their understanding of people’s actions and reactions is accommodated to each community.

“It’s important to have officers with different backgrounds and different experiences,” Student Resource Officer Gregory Hunter said. “I think that’s an asset to the police department when officers are more well rounded.”

According to Cherise Threewitt on howstuffworks.com, police officers are under a ticket quota every month. Threewitt explains that officers receive rewards for meeting the quota criteria. This only increases the number of tickets being given to innocent people. If ticket quotas weren’t given to police officers on a monthly basis, they wouldn’t have the mindset to always want to be on the lookout for someone.

“Ticket quotas vary,” Threewitt said, “and quotas that have been leaked or reported on fall in the range of one per day to 100 per month. In some districts, officers that meet quotas are given prizes or bonuses, and officers that do not meet the quotas are punished with poor reviews or bad shift schedules.”

By enforcing ticket quotas the morality of the police officer will shift. Societies need police officers who are reasonable and passionate when it comes to protecting communities. This can only be achieved if police departments require their officers in training to take on psychology and sociology classes.

It’s time for people to realize that the conflict between an officer and civilians is the miscommunication between them. If officers were to be required to take these courses their education on the way humans and societies work would benefit them in their everyday life. Most importantly, there will be police officers taking care of communities who are educated on the way humans and societies work.