Relaxing the Law (Lower standards for Law Enforcement)

[LeighAnn]

From AP via the Canton Repository

Police departments around the country are relaxing age and fitness standards, forgiving minor criminal convictions and easing other requirements to relieve shortages in their ranks and find officers who are wiser, more worldly and cooler-headed in a crisis.

In recent years, St. Petersburg and Tampa, Fla., dropped the need for a two-year college degree if the candidate has military or law enforcement experience. Oakland, Calif., is no longer disqualifying applicants for minor, long-ago drug convictions or gang involvement. And Boston this spring raised the upper age limit for recruits from 32 to 40.

“Being well-rounded, having some life experience, makes for a better person and patrolman — someone who is coming up on a conflict who is mature and measured, as opposed to some young kid right out of school,” said Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty, who proposed the age-limit increase.

More

http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?Category=23&ID=361672&r=10&subCategoryID=