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In Arkansas and Indiana You Can Become a Cop Without Any Training
“It’s disturbing that police departments can grant people arrest powers, and arm them with guns, without putting them through the proper training first.”
On the afternoon of Sept. 8, 2012, a white police officer in the town of Alexander, Arkansas, shot and killed a 30-year-old black man named Carleton Wallace. The officer, Nancy Cummings, told investigators she had detained Wallace after noticing a pistol tucked in his waistband, which he threw into a wooded area upon seeing her. According to Cummings’ account, it was while she was patting Wallace down that her service weapon accidentally discharged and struck him in the back. Wallace was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Cummings, who was placed on administrative leave from the department and charged with manslaughter in connection with the incident, had joined the Alexander police force about eight months earlier. But as Alexander’s then-police chief admitted in an interview the week after Wallace’s death, Cummings had not yet received any training or certification from the state. She was not scheduled to attend the police academy until the following year.
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“It’s disturbing that police departments can grant people arrest powers, and arm them with guns, without putting them through the proper training first.”On the afternoon of Sept. 8, 2012, a white police officer in the town of Alexander, Arkansas, shot and killed a 30-year-old black man named Carleton Wallace. The officer, Nancy Cummings, told investigators she had detained Wallace after noticing a pistol tucked in his waistband, which he threw into a wooded area upon seeing her. According to Cummings’ account, it was while she was patting Wallace down that her service weapon accidentally discharged and struck him in the back. Wallace was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Cummings, who was placed on administrative leave from the department and charged with manslaughter in connection with the incident, had joined the Alexander police force about eight months earlier. But as Alexander’s then-police chief admitted in an interview the week after Wallace’s death, Cummings had not yet received any training or certification from the state. She was not scheduled to attend the police academy until the following year.
more