Last Monday is a column that appears the last Monday of the month.
The Chico Police Department requires that applicants, “Be free from any physical, emotional, or mental condition, including bias against race or ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, disability, or sexual orientation, which might adversely affect the exercise of the powers of a peace officer.”
I don’t know anybody like that. Neither do you.
That requirement is high-minded and unattainable. That the overpaid killers (for cop money, we could at least get college grads in the humanities, since mainly humans are involved) who shot Breanne Sharp, Eddie Sanchez, Desmond Phillips, Tyler Rushing, Stephen Vest and Michael Oxley did so without regard to race, gender, religion, and the rest is trivial.
I’ve read that California requires a psychological evaluation of prospective police officers. Are Chico cops reevaluated regularly or ever?
A.P. Porter has written hundreds of newspaper columns and theatrical reviews as well as award-winning books for children. For nine years he taught creative writing at High Desert State Prison.
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