24 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: JUNE 2017 that not everyone can be reasoned with and force is required. The academy is not preparing recruits adequately for these encounters. An academy operating with integrity would not eliminate the boxing exercises. An academy with integ- rity would not eliminate the “scary dash cam videos” of officers being shot or beaten severely. These are but a couple of the ugly realities of our chosen profession and it’s crucial to be prepared. Officers get hit, officers sometimes have to hit oth- ers, officers get shot, and officers sometimes have to shoot bad guys. The 21st Century Policing program, as it is being sold to today’s recruit, will only work if all of the bad actors out there are required to at- tend and pass a class on 21st Century Bad Guying. Most of us know that will never happen. Today’s academy has light- ened the load required of a recruit. Of the thirteen 250 word essays of yesteryear, I believe only about 7 are now required for today’s recruit. These essays force the re- cruit to read and hopefully understand their depart- ment’s policies and proce- dures in critical areas. Those of us who went through academies back in the day benefited by writing all 13 essays. Yes we lost sleep, yes we had writer’s cramp from re-writes (no more than 3 white-outs per page), but we survived and made fewer mistakes because of that base line knowledge and practice. Who remembers four minute drills or our recruit training officer or class coun- selor getting in our face and maybe even demanding some push-ups to jog our memories as to our respon- sibilities? Recruit training officers today are not allowed to provide this type of training. Today’s academy is staffed by good men and women whose hands are tied when it comes to preparing recruits for the realities of their job. Among the 585 minimum required hours of training at the academy as required by Arizona POST, there is a class on liability issues where the recruit is taught about the consequences of actions they take or fail to take. They learn they can lose their job and that their de- partment can be sued if they do the wrong thing. Another part of this class addresses a department’s liability. Negligent hiring, negligent training, and neg- ligent retention are the ones that ring loud in my ears. My department has bragged for decades that they have not lowered their standards in hiring. If there has been no lowering of standards, why would any agency hire someone with a 6th grade reading and writ- ing comprehension level? Why would any agency Continued from page one Academy is failing cops of the future hire someone who has an admitted history of theft into their 30s? Why would any agency hire someone who has a history of drug use and/or drug dealing? If it sounds like negligent hiring and a lowering of standards, then most likely it is. I lay blame for this on management in the hiring office. One must not hire with their heart, one must hire based on facts. You must hire the best qualified candidates to protect your- self and the agency from liability. On negligent retention, the commander of an acad- emy often has the final say when it comes to retain- ing or dismissing a recruit. Some of the things that result in the dismissal of a recruit have been black and white in the past. You fail an academic test and fail the re-test, you are gone. Today, not so much. Today, on the fourth or fifth re-test of an ambush scenario, it is perfectly ac- ceptable to run away and blindly shoot over your shoulder. After all, you did return fire so this would be a pass on the scenario. Is the City and the Police Department truly going to be OK with these types of tactics being used on the street? If an officer negligently injures or kills a citizen using these tactics, will the Use of Force board find them in or out of policy? More importantly, would they possibly be prosecuted? Try explaining these tactics to the families of the two innocent by-standers you killed while letting the bad guy get away. Why would any academy commander accept or pro- mote a voluntary departure from the academy of a re- cruit with a history of rule and regulation violations and who may have com- mitted an assault and aggra- vated assault as a recruit in the academy? Why would any academy Commander impede or fail to cooper- ate with AZ POST during the investigation of recruit misconduct? It’s time to return integrity to hiring and training. Re- place irresponsible leaders whose main focus is hiring the most qualified people for the job. Promote leaders who want good quality, ca- pable people who can serve the public the best, with the highest level of integrity. Hire capable people who can reach that 25-year retire- ment. More importantly, when a recruit isn’t cutting it, can’t grasp training concepts, repeatedly fails, and gives clear indicators they will be a liability, we should not hesitate to cut that person loose. Let’s get back to integrity across the board so we can all be proud to say that we were cops who worked for the department that we gave so hard for and which gave back to us. Ken Crane is the president of the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association. Officers spend thousands of hours training for their wide array of difficult tasks. Sometimes people really need that beer. In South Dakota recently, a man defied orders from police officers and fire of- ficials when he went back inside his burning home to fetch a 25-ounce can of Bud Ice Premium. According to an article from the Sacramento Bee, 56- year-old Michael Anthony Casteel faces one count of obstructing law enforcement and one count of obstructing a firefighter. Shortly after the Sioux Falls police and fire depart- ments responded to a fire at a multifamily residence, Casteel said he wanted to go back in and get his beer. He was believed to be drunk and a breath test in- dicated a .082 BAC. At some point when peo- ple’s attention was else- where, Casteel went back into the burning building and came out with two cans of Bud Ice Premium worth about four dollars. The Sioux Falls police and fire departments used social media to roast the guy after it was all over. Dedication or stupidity? Man arrested after returning to house on fire to grab his beer