The military is made up from officers and enlisted personnel with the former selected and cultivated for higher personal characteristics. The police otoh while referring to themselves as officers is almost entirely enlisted-class material.
Not since the 60s. On paper its possible in theory during an era of low application numbers to become an officer in an obscure location with various waivers if you're lucky, but in practice the requirements to actually get hired as a P.O. are the same as military OCS.
You pretty much need a clean and successful record with a bachelors degree for both paths.
Degree inflation is a real thing, similar to how receptionists in 2020 need a degree in "something" whereas in the old days high school was enough. Boomer generation cops could get hired with a mere high school diploma but that was 50 years ago.
>On paper its possible in theory during an era of low application numbers to become an officer in an obscure location with various waivers if you're lucky, but in practice the requirements to actually get hired as a P.O. are the same as military OCS.
Today, the published requirement to apply to the NYPD is 60 college credits (i.e. a two-year associate's degree). The LAPD only requires high-school graduation.
On the other hand, Army OCS requires a four-year bachelor's degree.
Enlisted-class does not mean uneducated or unskilled (in fact the skill is usually concentrated in senior enlisted and warrant officer levels) - it means educated for certain norms of conduct. What is the police equivalent of West Point where an honor code violation would see one expelled ?
