The selection process for police officers is designed to choose the most qualified and to eliminate those who are physically, ethically, emotionally, mentally, or socially unfit. Those selected, however, are representatives of the community at large and as such are subject to having the same prejudices and biases found in much of society. Exposure to crime and its aftermath can tend to harden and render insensitive an officer whose sympathetic understanding is needed to properly perform their duties. The department must provide initial and continuing training in human and community relations to help officers avoid this hardening of attitude and to imbue in each officer an understanding of her/his total role in the community.
Last Edited: March 21, 2017