We the People: Hillsdale Launches Its Law Enforcement Constitution Course

Written by Stephanie Gordon

In the fall of 2020, Hillsdale College Assistant to the President Patrick Whalen received an email from a Texas police officer. The officer, a long-time Imprimis reader and supporter of the College, explained the need for a civics refresher within his own police department. It was this plea for help, to bring awareness and education to the document officers have sworn to defend, that helped forge the College’s Law Enforcement Constitution Course. 

According to Whalen, the course is designed to give law enforcement officers at every level—state, local, and federal—a deeper knowledge of and appreciation for the Constitution they have sworn to support and defend. The course should imbue them with the spirit of citizenship and prepare them to exercise their authority with dignity and efficiency. 

“This is a case of people asking us to teach them about the Constitution,” said Whalen. “We are going to try and teach anyone who wants to learn from Hillsdale College.”

Both Whalen and Dr. Kevin Slack, associate professor of politics, worked together to create a two-hour presentation for the officers within the Texas police department. The presentation focused on the Constitution and the 2nd and 4th Amendments. For two consecutive days, Slack gave presentations to groups of 30 officers at a time.

“We wanted to incorporate a treatment of the relevant case law with a discussion of American founding and constitutional principles,” Slack said. “It was a wonderful experience, and the learning went both ways.”

After the presentation in Texas, Whalen received another independent query from a police academy in Virginia. Soon after, various state police departments contacted Whalen for the same reasoning as the Texas police department. Whalen brought the requests to Dr. Larry Arnn’s attention, and he agreed that the College should help. What they came up with was a four-hour presentation that would fit into police academy training schedules and in-service training days.

The course contains three sections: American Political Theory, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution. The sections focus on natural law, natural rights, the protection of those natural rights, necessity of consent, and the purpose of the federal government named in the Declaration. 

The course includes an instructor’s guide with a course outline complete with learning objectives, readings, and questions to facilitate discussion. The student guide contains some of the most important ideas and texts in addition to space for the officer to take notes. A slide deck is also available to assist instructors in their classroom delivery, and the course’s website will include an online library of primary texts.

“Some of these guys have college degrees, some don’t,” Whalen said. “Some are native English speakers, some aren’t. So, we wanted to create an ‘every man’ type of curriculum. I think it will be really rewarding—reminding them why they’re there.” 

Currently, the police academy in Virginia is piloting the course. Whalen said the course is free to interested police departments, and the College hopes to distribute the course as widely as possible.

“At great personal risk, police officers swear to undertake the most important function of government—protecting life, liberty, and property—and we hope that this course helps to give a better sense of the important constitutional and legal foundations of that role,” added Slack.

Anyone interested in supporting or learning more about Hillsdale’s Law Enforcement Constitution Course can contact [email protected].


Stephanie Gordon, a lifelong Hillsdale native, is the managing editor of the Student Stories Blog. She is married to chiropractor, Dr. Matt Gordon, and has three children – Eloise, Flora, and Jack. When she has a spare moment, she enjoys paleo baking, floating on Baw Beese Lake, and breaking a sweat at the gym.


Published in June 2022