Houston Chronicle by St. John Barned-Smith and Eric Dexheimer Nov. 30, 2020
Blistering government report blasts poor training, oversight of Texas law enforcement
Last year, more than 600 Texas law enforcement officers received a dishonorable discharge from their agencies for misconduct. Yet more than a quarter of them were rehired to work as sworn officers.
To qualify for a peace officer license, Texas cops need fewer hours of basic training than licensed cosmetologists and less than half the education required of air-conditioning and refrigeration contractors. While the basic training requires officers to spend 48 hours on the firing range, it demands only two hours of “civilian interaction†instruction.
The difficulty of purging bad officers from the ranks of Texas police and outdated and inadequate officer training highlight how state lawmakers have rendered the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement unable to meaningfully oversee the profession, according to a blistering new report by the Sunset Advisory Commission. The commission reviews the performance of state agencies every 10 years or so.
The Sunset Advisory Commission’s critical findings come amid a contentious nationwide re-evaluation of the fundamental role of police. The deaths of Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and George Floyd, among others, have prompted calls for stronger oversight from police departments and civilian review boards, as well as stricter limits on police use of force.
But in Texas, the regulation of law enforcement is “by and large, toothless,†the Sunset report concluded.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/Texas-police-lack-training-report-government-cops-15758660.php
