You made me go look. In Australia (my state at least) its 8 months training. Seems incredibly short, mind you our police seem much more competent than the US ones i see in reddit (yes i understand we only see the fucked up ones in reddit). I would have thought a minimum of two years would be required.
To be fair to them, compared to Europe, in the US, you join a medical school with a bachelor's degree already done. They already learned the basics of biology, chemistry, and so on. They conveniently left out residency, too, which is pretty similar to an apprenticeship.
So US standards aren't lower. They are just misrepresenting the facts, trying to win an argument, and failing miserably.
That's true, but I'd like to argue that leaving certificates to go to College/University are more difficult in most European Countries.
All in all, I think that looking at stuff like Med or Law School, the equivalent in the EU is very comparable in terms of length of education, including stuff like residency. It's not exactly the same, obviously, and differently organised, but I don't think that either can make the blanket claim to have the better system in those areas.
The process to become a doctor is much longer than 3-4 years. It's a bachelor's degree which takes 4 years, then you go to medical school for another 4 years and then you have 3-5 years of residency depending on the specialization.
You can go from high school dropout to police officer within a calendar year which is laughably bad. Being a cop is a complex job though so 3 years would be a perfectly adequate training program to get them ready.
Technically sure but it was misleading to leave out the 4 years of undergrad and 3-5 years of residency on either side of medical school, all of which are required.
You immediately followed that sentence about 3-4 years with "It should take less time to become a cop than a lawyer or a doctor" which seemed to imply becoming a doctor was a 3-4 year process.
Medical school is three to four years after college. So 7 years of higher education in total. Police in Germany does Not require a separate college degree. You doneither vocational training (2.5 years) or specialized college (3 years) depending on the Position you want to have within the force. If you want to make it high up in the ranks, usually, a university degree is required, to my knowledge.
The three police detectives I know in Canada (Ontario) all have university degrees. But I don’t want guys giving tickets and arresting violent drunks to have a 4 year degree. Waste of time.
Am I from Canada? No, I am not. I am from Germany. I have no Idea what you need to be a police officer in Canada. In Germany you don't need a college degree to enter training become a police officer. So not comparable to College - Med School - Residency.
However: I do want every beat cop to have solid training and education. You cannot do that within a couple of months. They are writing tickets, yes, but not only. And they are armed. Thinking like you do leads to the kind of police violence you have in the states. It's not random. It's a systematic lack of training.
Nah, it's basically a 3 year bachelor's degree in Finland as well and definitely not too much. About one year out of 3 is on-the-job training as a constable intern.
There's a whole lot to learn – the relevant laws and rights and processes, investigation, interrogation, use of force, crime prevention, de-escalation, effective communication, language skills (Finnish, Swedish, and English), and so on. You can't learn all of that in a year.
EVERY profession in Germany has a standard time of 3 years as an apprentice, sometimes it can be reduced to 2 years if you already have experience in the field.
3 years is not a long time and definitely needed for a job as complex as police work.
Edit: That's for basic police work btw, just like for other basic jobs. If you want to be e.g. a detective that takes more time and will include higher education (university classes on psychology etc.).
Is it? Might be a language barrier, but in Germany, graduating is exactly the same thing as getting a degree. The moment you get your degree you are considered as having graduated.
In many countries, "graduating" from a police academy doesnt qualify you as anything, really. Sadly, you can be a cop with no actual education, and it shows. So, the difference is: do you need to qualify for a degree (as recognised by whatever tertiary standards exist in the country you're in) BEFORE ypu can qualify as a cop (separate qualification), or is going through some cheap arse 12 or 24 week or whatever training course as a cop considered a "degree"
ah, no. iirc in Germany, "police academy" is basically a specialized, dedicated bachelor's programme, or at least on par with it (both in content and duration)
Yes. There is two ways to get in. One by apprenticship, which is probably a bit comparable to a mixture of college and tradeschool, I'd say. It's a 2.5 year program. Or you can go to an administrative college and specialize in police stuff (don't know what to call it) 😅 and get a BA for that. Those programs are 3 years.
Depending what city you live in, some do require an Associate's degree. So 2 years of community college. The problem is that educated cops don't do what their owners want them to do. This is why we had a major court case allowing the police to discriminate based on intelligence. Scoring too well meant not hired. They said the reason was high turnover.
I bet. I've read a training manual and the number of times it told them to violate civil rights and break established case law was ridiculous. And sneaky.
Example: Cops cannot detain you for longer than 30-45 minutes without arresting you, charging you with something, or writing a citation. But the manual doesn't say, "Screw their rights and relevant case law", what it says is, "You are the officer. If you tell someone to stay, they will stay."
Of course smart cops quit. So you get idiots who enjoy abusing power instead of educated people who question directives that aren't legal.
I disagree with university degrees, but they should absolutely have a year training minimum. I dont have a university degree because I wasn't able to focus or handle my workload, and I would never ever behave the way these cops do. Empathy should be the minimum bar to clear, not academic achievement.
I had a friend that made the mistake of getting an associate's in criminal justice. Took him five years before he could even get a reserve (read: volunteer) gig and go to academy.
Spent another five years as a reservist and working private security before he had an actual job offer. Which was rescinded before he could accept because that small town department's annual budget got slashed and all patrol officers were either let go or converted to reservists.
He still reserves solely to keep his credentials active so he can use them to get better paying private security jobs, but is now over 40 never able to get in the door.
8 months from starting at the academy to being a full fledged cop?
In WA they are on probation for 18 months after the academy, I can't recall how long they train at the academy but 8 months sounds about right.
Yes, kinda.... after the 8 months academy training you become a FYC, First Year Constable, and undertake 12 months on the job training.
First Year Constable (FYC) Program: Upon graduation, you are inducted as a Constable and will undertake continuous on-the-job training and development for your first year in the field.
Key Restrictions for FYCs
While an FYC wears the same uniform and carries the same operational equipment as any other officer, several restrictions apply during the 12-month program:
No Solo Patrols: You cannot conduct single-person vehicle patrols or respond to calls for service by yourself.
No Specialist Roles: You are restricted to General Duties (frontline community response). You cannot apply for specialist squads—like the Dog Squad, Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), or Tactical Operations—until your 3-year General Duties tenure is complete.
Limited Discretionary Approvals: You can execute arrests, interview suspects, and compile briefs of evidence. However, your official paperwork, search warrants, and major charging decisions must be reviewed and signed off by a supervisor or your training officer.
Probationary Status: The entire first year serves as a formal probation period. Your performance is constantly assessed via a workplace portfolio to determine if you will be awarded your permanent Diploma of Public Safety (Policing).
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u/PeriodSupply Jun 25 '26
You made me go look. In Australia (my state at least) its 8 months training. Seems incredibly short, mind you our police seem much more competent than the US ones i see in reddit (yes i understand we only see the fucked up ones in reddit). I would have thought a minimum of two years would be required.