When Power Meets Underpreparedness

Post 1 – The Training Gap: When Power Meets Underpreparedness 🤨💥

Yes, technically Transit cops are fully sworn officers, with the power to arrest, issue tickets, and enforce the law. But… how the hell did we get here?

Society expects these officers — trained in a police academy for only 6–12 months — to manage:

• Mental health crises 😢
• Addiction and homelessness 🥺
• Domestic disputes 💔
• Child welfare, elder care, and crisis intervention 👶👵

Meanwhile, professions historically dominated by women — teaching, nursing, social work, caregiving, cooking — require years of training:

• Teachers: 4–5 years 📚
• Nurses: 2–4 years 🏥
• Social workers: 2–4 years 💬
• Doctors: 7+ years 👨‍⚕️
• Chefs / caregivers: 2+ years 🍳

Irony: Male-dominated “tough” roles get short training, while traditionally female, “nurturing” roles require far more education, experience, and empathy — yet the stakes are the same: human lives.

Here’s the danger — in questions and analogies:

1. If a chef trains 2 years to safely cook meals, how can someone trained 6 months handle a human crisis without “burning” someone emotionally or physically? 🔥👨‍🍳
2. Would you get on a plane flown by someone who trained for only 6 months, expected to handle storms, medical emergencies, and panicking passengers? ✈️😬
3. Would you trust a person with 6 months of training to teach, counsel, and discipline children, including those facing trauma? 📚😢
4. If someone holds authority over people historically oppressed — like Indigenous communities — but lacks empathy training, what’s the likelihood of abuse or harm? 🥺⚖️
5. Giving a 6-month trained recruit a wrench and keys and saying, “Fix everyone’s lives, de-escalate crises, and enforce laws” — how many lives could be “damaged”? 🔧💥
6. A firefighter spends almost a year training to save lives; a cop spends half that time and is expected to do both rescue and judgment — how is this fair? 🚒🤯
7. Would you rather a trained social worker intervene in addiction, homelessness, or domestic disputes — or someone trained for 6 months with a baton and handcuffs? 💔
8. Stealing a bus ride is like stealing bread to survive — how does punishing someone harshly reflect a system that fails to provide safety or support? 🥖🚍
9. How can officers respect Indigenous traditions, trauma, and rights if their training barely touches history, social justice, or empathy? 🌿⚡
10. Isn’t it bizarre that society gives power over life, liberty, and dignity to someone whose training is shorter than a nurse’s or social worker’s? 😡💔

Bottom line: We are giving enormous power to people with far too little preparation — and human lives are paying the price. 💔🥺