Policing in America is fucked.

My proposal:

-BS/BA education minimum

-Some number of hours in a higher responsibility position (EMT, nursing assistant, etc - something that requires skill and an ability to make decisions under pressure and without abusing power)

-THEN a psych and physical fitness eval, and whatever other requirements of acceptance into a 2 year minimum police specific training program.

-Lastly, starting out in either a lower level position (parking enforcement, community assistance, etc) or partnering with a senior officer and demonstrating excellence for an amount of time before going solo or becoming a non-probationary officer.

Plus continuing education, and mental and physical fitness requirements to keep the job.

This would require a lot more money and career potential to attract the best, but I think it's better than: completed high school, completed a six month course, and reached 21 years of age. It's really no wonder we have so many horrible people in LE. The standards are super low.

Being a cop should be incredibly rewarding and a privilege given to the most moral among us, not a career any asshole can drop into with little effort.

Falling through the cracks as an unfit police officer should be incredibly difficult, and I think it would be a lot more difficult with these standards.

Ending the drug war and other stupid laws would help even more. 

 It’s quite a dangerous career not many people want unless they are uneducated. Give the gun culture, I’m not sure there’s any solution. Raising requirements and pay may help a little but at the end of the day you are still under the same amount of stress when you don’t know who is gonna pull a gun on you. 

 The standards are worse than just low, they’re intentionally not high. They specifically avoid hiring high-IQ applicants. 
They want people who follow orders, not people with a conscience and a spine. 
The system isn’t broken, it’s functioning as intended. 

 Intended by whom? That's exactly my point. WE don't have to accept it. Hopelessness and unwillingness to demand change definitely isn't going to fix anything. I think the average American voter is what's broken. You can't let bad philosophy and low standards run rampant and then take none of the blame. We are the system. 

 Democracy is the bad philosophy. 

I’m not hopeless at all, unless we’re talking only my lifetime here. I am working to make things better. Tomorrow it may pay off a little bit. Generations from now, it may pay off much more. 
Ultimately, Christ will reign and the former things will no longer even come to mind. And that’s my ultimate hope even if all my other hopes don’t pay off at all. 

 What's the best form of government? 

 Sounds great but D.E.I. and PC leftist corruption would be inevitable with all the schooling and training you propose. Did I mention these are “government “ jobs…with unions. Sorry to be a killjoy. 

 You're not being a killjoy, you're over inflating your concerns. I've been through a lot of my proposals here, and there wasn't as much DEI and PC leftist stuff as you're insinuating. It's certainly not as systemic as you seem to think it is. I'm sure there are varying degrees of those problems in pockets, but that doesn't mean we should just throw our hands up and say fuck it.

As for unions, those exist now. I'm skeptical that they would be opposed to having better standards in training, career opportunities, and pay. Besides, we get to vote for the people who actually make these decisions.

Most Americans on all sides probably don't want some dumb fuck 21 year old (in general) with little life experience running around with a badge and a gun. I just don't buy that police meeting my proposed standards would be worse than the very low ones we have right now. DEI or not. That stuff already exists right now anyway and people don't have to go to those kind of schools. I didn't.