JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A state senator wants to create a police academy at Edward Waters College with an eye on creating diversity in police departments across the country.
Senator Christopher Smith, D-31, Ft. Lauderdale, said starting a police academy at Edward Waters College would solve that problem.
“What we’re doing in senate bill 772 is merging that historically black university with a police academy so students will be recruited to that college and receive a degree in criminal justice, but when they walk across that stage, they’ll be certified as police officers,” Smith said.
In announcing the plan Thursday, Smith mentioned the U.S. Justice Department investigation of the Furguson, Missouri, Police Department, where racial issues with the community were blamed in part about the low number of minority officers in a city with a 67 percent black population. read more…
