The Missouri Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission has approved the establishment of a police academy at historically Black Lincoln University in Jefferson City. This will be the first police academy in the nation housed at a historically Black college or university.
Joseph Steenbergen, a professor at Lincoln University noted that “at many police departments now, there is a shortage in minority recruiting and that is what we are really focusing on.”
The university believes that the academy’s curriculum could be completed in one semester as part of an associate’s or bachelor’s degree program.
In order to obtain final approval from the Missouri Department of Public Safety, officials will make an onsite visit to campus to conduct a review of the university’s faculty, curriculum and advisory board. If approved the police academy at Lincoln will be the 20th such institution in the state of Missouri.
