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04-01-2010 Military/Law Enforcement Newsletter |
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Military / Law Enforcement Newsletter - April '10
In difficult financial times, police departments look to tighten their belts, to remove any unnecessary spending from their budget. One of the first things that often gets the axe is also one of the most important things to the department – training.
Without adequate training, officers aren’t aware of the latest court decisions on the legality of certain police procedures (interrogation, disclosure of evidence, etc.) When police officers aren’t staying abreast of what is and isn’t legal, they may inadvertently violate a suspect’s constitutional rights and subject themselves and the entire department to legal action.
When a police department “consciously” cuts back on training (i.e. to save money), they become liable for any legal violations that one of its untrained officers commits. Courts have called this a “deliberate indifference” to the duty to train officers. The financial burden that losing a case like this would cost is far more devastating than the money lost on training itself. In the case of Davis v. Mason County, for example, the county ended up losing over a million dollars.
Training does cost money, but it’s something that deserves to be funded. There are ways to lessen the financial blow as well. For example, UMAREX designs, manufacturers, and distributes RAM (Real Action Markers), an outstanding simulated weapon training system that significantly lessens the cost of training.
Police departments are the object of intense scrutiny, particularly in regards to ethical and legal treatment of suspects and their constitutional rights. When the department fails on this front it reflects poorly on them in the public eye and undermines the good work they try to do (in addition to the financial damages that losing this kind of case costs). Because of this, it is usually in a department’s best interest to adequately train its officers.
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