Shorter Academies and Crime Stats Chicanery

The Internet was a bit thin on local crime stories this morning. However, there was a couple of interesting law enforcement related stories.

Trooper Trainees To Face Shorter Academy
The Texas Department of Public Safety has decided to make some changes to their training program with the hopes of easing their shortage of state Troopers.

“We can provide superior training at less cost, in less time, and it's far easier for us to recruit,“ said McCraw, adding many recruits will not commit to a training course lasting more than 7 months. “We determined we can be much more competitive in recruiting, in college and the military, in an 18-week school and one that's not done just once or twice a year.”

McCraw recently persuaded the DPS governing board to trim the existing 27-week training course to 18 weeks, a move he hopes will help the state police find enough applicants to fill nearly 400 vacancies. He said much of the training that was removed related to gaining an intermediate police officer rating, one which also requires six years of experience.

The Public Safety Commission also approved an eight-week school for certified peace officers who want to join the DPS, McCraw said.

DPS is a good organization. Over the years I've know a number of experienced officers that would have liked to join DPS but didn't relish the idea of spending nearly 7 months living in a barracks in Austin. For officers with families, the idea of spending all that time living apart from your family is a deal breaker, especially when you could make more money working for another agency that didn't require that boot camp nonsense.

Law enforcement is really having to work hard to get qualified applicants. Many folks who would ordinarily become cops are pursuing opportunities in the military or even working as contractors overseas. This has made the law enforcement jobs market very competitive.

What is your agency doing to make itself more attractive to potential law enforcement officers?

More On Dallas Police Crime Stats Mess
There's more on Dallas PD's crime stats reporting problems. The City of Dallas has now asked the City Auditor to look into reporting practices. One of Dallas's City Council members, Ann Margolin, had this to say:

"I just want to be clear that when we see statistics, that we can count on them," she said. "And even more so, that we can compare them year to year and month to month and that that all has meaning."

Reports of crime stat chicanery surfaced after Dallas's crime rate dropped significantly. The Dallas Morning News article goes on to say:

And while the FBI strongly discourages comparing one place with another based on the raw statistics, many people do.

Last year, Dallas shed its distinction as having the highest crime rate of U.S. cities with more than 1 million people. San Antonio gained that distinction, and Dallas fell to No. 2. The Dallas City Council wants to be out of the top eight by 2013.

Of course, the apparent fudging of the numbers now makes you wonder if Dallas did actually have the crime drop they said they did. I guess that's one way to get your crime rate down.