Lincoln University in Missouri has become the first Historically Black College and University (HBCU) to train police recruits on campus at the Lincoln University Law Enforcement Training Academy (LULET) established earlier this year.
Led by Lincoln University police chief Gary Hill, the program allows its students to spend their final semester at the university doing full-time police training, in addition to viewing and analyzing bodycam and cellphone footage of incidents as part of the curriculum.
According to time.com, the program runs for 22 weeks on evenings and Saturdays. Students learn how to shoot a firearm and when to use force, as well as how to respond to domestic-violence and child-abuse calls and how to deal with death encountered on the job.
Hill says the academy steers away from the military-style teaching methods that traditional police academies have been criticized for using. He says a chunk of the curriculum focuses on de-escalation strategies and that he has personally vetted the instructors, who are all local law-enforcement officers.
A new study published this February in the journal Science found that Black and Hispanic officers use force less frequently than white officers, especially against Black people, evidence that diversity can improve police treatment of communities of color.
To watch an MSNBC segment on the academy, click below:
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