Office of the Missouri Governor
Originally published on December 16, 2020 5:37 pm
Missouri will soon have the country’s first police academy based at a historically Black university.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson and his public safety director, Sandy Karsten, signed a one-year license for the law enforcement basic training center at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
“What I m hoping is to create a (diverse) pool of law enforcement officers out of our program, to help diversify some of the agencies that we have in the surrounding area and outside the surrounding area,” said Lincoln University Police Chief Gary Hill.
Hill will direct the academy when it begins operations early next year. He first proposed the idea for the academy three years ago.
Office of the Missouri Governor
Missouri will soon have the country’s first police academy based at a historically Black university.
On Tuesday, Gov. Mike Parson and his public safety director, Sandy Karsten, signed a one-year license for the law enforcement basic training center at Lincoln University in Jefferson City.
“What I m hoping is to create a (diverse) pool of law enforcement officers out of our program, to help diversify some of the agencies that we have in the surrounding area and outside the surrounding area,” said Lincoln University Police Chief Gary Hill.
Hill will direct the academy when it begins operations early next year. He first proposed the idea for the academy three years ago.
Missouri law enforcement academies will be required to begin educating all law enforcement recruits in the history of policing in minority communities in the U.S. The two-hour block of instruction would cover policing from the founding of the nation through the present. The measure was unanimously approved by the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission on Tuesday, December 15.
“I believe providing this training in the history of policing for Missouri officers can help create a better understanding of some of the underlying reasons for conflict and distrust that can exist between law enforcement and minority communities, and can help create better relations going forward,” said