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training environment has created a warrior-like mentality on the part of the police” (p. 31), which not only inhibits learning but also may paradoxically condition a recruit in a manner that is contrary to the philosophy of community policing.4
Addressing the disparate styles that characterize training programs in the United States, Holden (1994) suggested that there exist two basic schools of thought: (1) academies that subscribe to a traditional, military, pedagogical model; and (2) academies that subscribe to a collegiate model—one that is consistent with the philosophy and principles of adult-based, andragogical learning. He posited that because America's “police organization is built along military lines…there has been a tendency to structure police training academies similarly.” Consequently, because “the police boot camp style of the academy is still the salient feature of the traditional police organization…the curriculum suffers.” Rather than focusing on the skills needed to “accomplish their jobs, they are trained in accordance with the myth that they are soldiers in a war against crime,” a mindset that is reminiscent of the reform era. Arguing against the traditional military model, he wrote that “police academies that are designed along military lines are archaic and dysfunctional…they teach the wrong lessons for the wrong reasons,” adding that “if an organization looks like a military unit, it must be a military unit”5 (pp. 282–286).
Pointing out that subscription to a militaristic, “boot camp” philosophy is counterproductive and outdated, he posited that “even the military has altered its approach to training over the past 20 years,”6 suggesting that today's police “should be taught utilizing adult education methodologies rather than behavioral techniques which are currently utilized in a fair number of police academies” (Holden, 1994, p. 286). He further emphasized that “it cannot be stressed strongly enough that academies stressing high discipline crush the initiative and creativity out of recruits. Police work is an occupation requiring motivation, imagination, and initiative. These traits are not found in organizations obsessed with militarylike discipline.”
Likewise, pointing to some of the misgivings associated with the traditional military model of training, Birzer (2003) explained that “the