Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
OGDEN — A retired police captain who now trains police cadets said emotionally charged cases like the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, could impact the next generations of law enforcement officers.
“I am concerned that there were will be individuals that ask themselves whether or not this is an area they want to be in,” said Jack Rickards, director of the Weber State University Law Enforcement Academy. “Some will question whether the scrutiny is worth it.”
But Rickards said people should still have a passion to serve.
"If you do your job and you work hard and you include the community in your everyday actions, you really have nothing to fear,” he said.
Rickards said a lot has changed since his 30-year career in law enforcement.
“Social media tends do drive an awful lot of public opinion — and that’s a good and bad thing,” he said. “Information needs to be presented fairly and accurately, and we all know that sometimes that doesn’t occur.”
Rickards said that’s why building community trust is so important, and that’s a message he passes on to cadets. He said part of building that trust includes reflecting the communities that police agencies serve.
If you do your job and you work hard and you include the community in your everyday actions, you really have nothing to fear.
–Jack Rickards, WSU Law Enforcement
“As the director of an academy, we are always encouraging minorities to apply,” Rickards said. “It’s unfortunate that we don’t have enough minorities. I think it’s also a matter of demographics in this area.”
Rickard is also an adjunct profession at WSU’s Department of Criminal Justice. He said Monday night's fallout in Ferguson generated heated debate in his class Tuesday.
“The man was unarmed,” said one student, referring to Brown. “He wasn’t a serious threat in this situation.”
Another student said, “I’m not letting someone wrestle for my gun twice. At that point, it’s done. I’m going home to my family and I’m going to do what I’ve got to do.”
Rickards said it’s important to have these discussions and learn from them.
“We can’t really second-guess all the time what’s happened,” he said. “But why do you think this happened? How could we have avoided or this individual avoided this situation?”
