Demilitarizing the cops: States retool police training

In this photo taken May 6, 2015, a pair of recruits wrestle during training in fighting at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in Burien, Wash. While some critics say that good officers already consider themselves protectors and that police need the best equipment to defend themselves and the public, many law enforcement leaders see a need for a broader change in police training and culture. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) In this photo taken May 6, 2015, a pair of recruits wrestle during training in fighting at the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission in Burien, Wash. While some critics say that good officers already consider themselves protectors and that police need the best equipment to defend themselves and the public, many law enforcement leaders see a need for a broader change in police training and culture. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

By Associated Press May 22, 2015 6 min read

BURIEN, Wash. (AP) – When prosecutor Dan Satterberg used to visit Washington state’s police academy, the seas would part before him. Recruits would snap to attention, backs to the walls, and allow him to pass.

Now, they greet him and start a conversation.

“It takes a lot longer to walk down the halls,” said Satterberg, the elected prosecutor in Seattle’s King County.

The friendlier attitude reflects a campaign underway here and elsewhere around the U.S. to “demilitarize” the police and produce officers who think of themselves as guardians of their communities, not members of an occupying force.

Calls for demilitarizing law enforcement began a few years ago but gained urgency after the violent protests over the shooting of unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, last summer.