Stupid Police Academy Tricks

From KIFI news:

BOISE, Idaho (AP) – Are Idaho police academy graduates trying to cause Posttraumatic Stress Disorder?

That’s the message on the latest class’s graduation programs, and it’s got leaders of the Idaho Police Officer Standards and Training Academy doing damage control.

The program read, “Don’t suffer from PTSD, go out and cause it.”

Jeff Black, who heads up the academy in Meridian, Idaho, where the latest class graduated December 14th, says, “That’s not something we encourage or condone. We were mortified it was in there.”

Apparently, each academy class chooses its own slogan. This is the one that the latest class of 43 officers wanted – before returning to 19 police agencies around the state to start their jobs.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder, common after violent attacks or war.

Black says, “Our class president was ex-military. It slipped in.”

It was meant to be a joke. Problem is that it’s certainly not funny and the academy is correct to be mortified.

I have tremendous respect for the people in the police department, but this slogan is just plain stupid. Officers face many challenges in doing their jobs. Chief among those are “bad cops” who abuse their authority. The publicity gotten by these bad cops makes the public less likely to respect law enforcement and less likely to cooperate with police investigations. The decision by the current class of the Police Academy to send a message that they’re sadists who want to afflict others with PTSD will only make their jobs harder when they get on the streets of Idaho’s city and towns.

While they intended it as a joke, they’ll find quite a few Idahoans who just don’t get it, and they’ll learn a painful lesson in why public relations matters in police work.

UPDATE

Bubblehead disagrees with me, but seems to somewhat misunderstand me, he writes:

Sorry, but I really don’t think that local police officers are out there to hurt and abuse the law-abiding citizens of Idaho — they’re here to protect their communities.

I never said that was an actual goal. However, in public relations, people’s perception paints their view in reality. People who tend to be suspicious of police will be more so, thanks to the story. Public relations do matter and words do matter, believe it or not.