Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

3-2-2018

SSRN Discipline

Experimental & Empirical Studies eJournals; Legal Anthropology eJournals; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Cultural Anthropology eJournals; CJRN Subject Matter eJournals; Legal Scholarship Network; Criminal Law & Procedure eJournals; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; Law & Society eJournals; Law & Society: Public Law eJournals; AARN Subject Matter eJournals; Criminal Justice Research Network; Humanities Network; Political Science Network; Anthropology & Archaeology Research Network

Abstract

Using original empirical research this Article identifies deficient legal training in police academies as a latent cause of improper arrests or detentions This often results in unnecessary conflict between police officers and citizens leading to endemic distrust of officers in the communities they serve With enhanced legal training police officers can avoid these negative interactions Although police officers need not be lawyers they must have more than a cursory understanding of the law Their primary responsibility is to enforce state and local laws which often requires officers to interpret statutory language in light of constitutional limitations Current police academy curricula leave police officers illequipped for this task Through a multistate survey this Article reveals that police officers receive little legal training The number of hours devoted to legal topics in state police academies is roughly 12 of total academy hours While academies allocate many of those hours to the state's statutory and traffic laws they devote little time to legal theory application and limitations of the law "” which are critical to officers as they confront unanticipated situations As this Article discusses citizens and the courts have or should have higher expectations for police officers To this end this Article suggests changes to police academy legal training that will improve community trust by enabling police officers to make better smarter decisions when interacting with citizens

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