When Soldiers Become COPS
The links below, tell the fascinating and instructive true story of a soldier-become-cop and the lessons he has learned.
How the Plans Unfolded
As you will see below, the recruitment of Veterans into policing was not a happenstance event, but rather a very well-orchestrated attempt to do several GOOD things such as helping discharged soldiers take on a new positive identity, provide employment, and help law enforcement agencies to recruit qualified officers. Clearly, we intended only GOOD. Clearly, THAT GOOD is not only what happened!
VETS TO COPS https://cops.usdoj.gov/aboutcops
The attached link is from the ABOUT US page for the COPS Agency, , and is instructive about how we have intentionally recruited our Veterans into Policing. The parallels in skill sets, training, and abilities to deploy force are not in and of themselves bad things if the Veteran Cop can leave the battlefield behind as they integrate back into a non-military environment!
The more we know about the Vets to Cops connections, the better we can understand how militarization of policing was fueled by intentional government funding and laws. Along with providing free surplus military hardware, we unintentionally created the perfect storm for the excessive and unnecessary USE OF FORCE that now has very deep roots which will be hard to kill.
The COPS Office https://cops.usdoj.gov/vetstocops is committed to supporting military veterans and the law enforcement agencies that hire them. Military veterans have demonstrated a strong work ethic, and the ability to work in teams and in challenging situations. These skills make many veterans ideal candidates for police work.
Beginning in FY 2012, the COPS Office began supporting military veterans through the COPS Hiring Program (CHP). Currently, CHP allocates additional consideration to applicants committing to hire or rehire military veterans.
Under CHP, a military veteran is defined as an individual who has served on active duty at any time in the armed forces for a period of more than 180 consecutive days, any part of which occurred on or after September 11, 2001, and who has been discharged or released from active duty in the armed forces under honorable conditions.