Should California police officers be college educated? A new proposal says no | Bill to Create Mo…

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Should California police officers be college educated? A new proposal says no

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California lawmakers could set new education requirements for police officers, but the bill has critics from all sides — including former Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, who authored the state’s watershed 2021 police reform bill.

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Amid calls for police reform in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in 2020, California lawmakers set out to raise education standards for incoming law enforcement officers. Five years later — as California faces a widespread shortage of police officers — those reforms are being debated once again. 

Bill to Create More Education Requirements for Potential Peace Officers Passes Sen. Committee

‘The current mandate requiring a separate degree in addition to a bachelor’s degree is both unnecessary and duplicative’

A bill to clarify education requirements for those entering law enforcement in California continued to move up through legislative committees this week, passing through the Senate Appropriations Committee 6-0.

Assembly Bill 992, authored by Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin (D-Thousand Oaks), would specifically require that a peace officer attain one or more specified degrees or certificates within 36 months of receiving their basic policing certificate from a police academy. These include getting an Associate’s degree, a Bachelor’s degree, a modern policing degree, or a professional policing certificate. However this requirement can be waived if the officer is employed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation or is a deputy sheriff of specified counties and is employed to perform duties relating to custodial facilities, has at least 4 years of law enforcement experience from another state or at least 4 years of military service in the Armed Forces of the United States as military policeman (MP), is employed as a peace officer by the State Department of State Hospitals, or, through the end of 2030, is enrolled in a basic academy or is employed as a peace officer by a public entity in California.

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