NEWS

Kaepernick fact check: Easier to be hairstylist than cop?

Mark Robison

mrobison@rgj.com

The claim

It takes more training and education to become a hairstylist than it does a police officer, according to San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick.

The background

Nevada Wolf Pack alum Kaepernick did not stand for the national anthem before Friday's preseason football game between the 49ers and the Green Bay Packers.

He explained that he would sit until he sees significant progress in the United States, especially in race relations.

Here’s how the Associated Press broke down his stance:

“Kaepernick criticized presidential candidates Donald Trump (‘openly racist’) and Hillary Clinton; called out police brutality against minorities; and pushed for accountability of public officials.

“'You can become a cop in six months and don't have to have the same amount of training as a cosmetologist,’ Kaepernick said. 'That’s insane. Someone that’s holding a curling iron has more education and more training than people that have a gun and are going out on the street to protect us.'”

Fact Checker decided to look into whether someone holding a curling iron must have more education and training than a law enforcement officer holding a gun in Nevada.

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The State Board of Cosmetology lists requirements for students on its website. They include the minimum number of class hours in beauty school: “Cosmetologist - 1600, Manicurist - 600, Aesthetician - 900, Electrologist - 500.”

That would be considered training. As far as education, the site says, “You must sign and notarize an affidavit provided by our office, stating that you have successfully completed the 10th grade in high school or its equivalent.”

That means making it through your sophomore year of high school.

Gary Landry, executive director of the Nevada State Board of Cosmetology, said that you can be licensed through an apprentice program rather than going to cosmetology school, but the apprentice program currently requires the completion of 3,600 hours of training.

For law enforcement officers, Nevada Administrative Code requires a minimum of 480 hours of training plus a high school diploma or a high school equivalency degree (GED). (One does not need to complete the sophomore year of high school to get a GED.)

Tim Bunting, deputy director of Nevada Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, said cosmetologists don’t have to pass a physical fitness test but peace officers do.

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He also said that while 480 hours is the minimum number of training hours required to be a peace officer in Nevada, the academies throughout the state require more: 17 weeks, or about 680 hours, for the state’s P.O.S.T. academy that generally trains officers for rural counties; 20 weeks, or 752 hours, for the Northern Nevada Law Enforcement Academy in Reno; and 22 weeks, or about 880 hours, for Las Vegas Metro.

After passing that training, he said, you are a certified peace officer but generally you do agency-specific training with a veteran officer for three to six months before you go out on your own.

Nevada, like a number of other states, allows someone to work as a peace officer for up to a year without being certified, Bunting said. This sometimes happens in rural counties where applicants are hard to come by.

Tim Donohoe said the requirements in Reno are a little more stringent than the state's. He is a lieutenant in charge of internal affairs and training for the Reno Police Department.

He said that after the Northern Nevada academy's 752 hours of training, someone is a certified peace officer but to join the Reno force, a 120-hour "patrol academy" is required that, among other topics, teaches Reno-specific laws. Then officers put in a minimum of 600 hours training with a veteran officer and are monitored and evaluated by their sergeant until they reach one year on the job as part of their continuing education.

The verdict

Becoming a certified law enforcement officer in Nevada requires the equivalent of two more years of high school than a cosmetologist but less than a third the number of training hours. Kaepernick is half-right.

Truth meter: 5 out of 10.