Recent controversial interactions of police with the public have become an issue of important concern for public and governmental leaders, who have openly questioned current models of police training and their effectiveness. This study is asking whether basic police academies utilize curricula that reflect the contemporary challenges of modern policing today and prepare recruits to become not only police officers but also competent and skilled, street-level bureaucrats who can provide an effective and impartial service to their increasingly diverse communities. The aim of this study is to quantify, analyze, and compare the content dedicated to the public administration domain in state-mandated basic training curricula across all 50 states. The study utilizes a mixed-methods research design with content analysis. Data were generated from 49 basic training curricula (with one state not having mandated training standards) and 17 interviews with police training officials. The result shows that despite the paradigm shift in the role of the modern-day police officer, police academies have made little to no progress in bridging the gap between the academy curriculum and the practicality of police work. On average, only 3.21% of basic training curricula are explicitly dedicated to public administration training—a training focused on public service values of fundamental importance to the practice of law enforcement. This article gives public administration scholars a voice in the national debate about the crisis in police–public relations by contributing to the literature on police training reform from a much-needed public administration lens.

警察与公众之间最近有争议的互动已成为公共和政府领导人的重要关切，他们公开质疑当前的警察培训模式及其有效性。这项研究正在询问基础警察学院是否利用反映当今现代警务当代挑战的课程，并使应征者不仅要成为警察，还要成为能干和熟练的街头官僚，为日益多样化的人提供有效和公正的服务社区。这项研究的目的是量化，分析和比较所有50个州在州规定的基本培训课程中致力于公共管理领域的内容。这项研究利用了混合方法研究设计和内容分析。数据来自49个基本培训课程（其中一个州没有强制性的培训标准）和17次与警察培训官员的访谈。结果表明，尽管现代警官的角色发生了范式转变，但警察学院在缩小学院课程与警察工作的实用性之间的差距方面几乎没有取得进展。一般，基本培训课程中只有3.21％专门用于公共管理培训，即针对对执法实践至关重要的公共服务价值的培训。本文通过从迫切需要的公共行政视角为警察培训改革的文献做出贡献，使公共行政学者在全国有关警察与公共关系危机的辩论中发声。