Rolando Berton: If officers were better educated, we’d have fewer problems

To become a doctor, you must go to school for many years. Why? Because people count on doctors to either detect what’s wrong with or get them well from a illness.

When you become a police officer, all you need is a few credits from community college and a friend or family member working at the police station. Of course they make you pass written and physical tests. Is that really enough for our cops when they have so many people’s lives in their hands? It’s one of the easiest careers that people apply for in which that many people’s lives are in their hands. I truly believe if they had to take more courses, get master’s degree, etc., it would eliminate bad cops in our society. I’m not saying all cops are bad, because we have good cops and bad. But this could eliminate some bad cops.

Editor’s note: According to the Modesto Police Department, prospective officers must undergo extensive pre-employment screening, including written testing, physical agility testing, a comprehensive background screening and independent medical and psychological screenings. Officer candidates are required to pass approximately 880 hours of academy academic and scenario training and nearly 20 additional weeks of field training. A significant number of current sworn police department employees have four-year college degrees.

This story was originally published April 14, 2015 at 6:30 PM with the headline "Rolando Berton: If officers were better educated, we’d have fewer problems."