Buckeye State residents have been bombarded in recent years by stories that indicate our law enforcement officers are not always fully equipped to protect and serve. Among the many calls for reform have been increasing the training requirements for becoming an officer in the first place.

It would be a good start. After all, according to a report by the Dayton Daily News, less training is required to become a law enforcement officer in Ohio than to become a barber or cosmetologist.

Predictably, there are those in law enforcement who believe making it harder to become an officer is a bad idea. They say it will make it harder to recruit new officers.

Good. That’s pretty much the idea. Those who cannot bear the thought of more training and education to better prepare them to make the right decisions and take the right action as officers probably shouldn’t be wearing a badge to begin with.

Lawmakers are trying to help, as the state Senate has passed a bill that lowers the minimum age to become an officer from 21 to 18. Frankly, that seems like a riskier decision than requiring more training, but it is a sign of how desperate we have become.

Attorney General Dave Yost’s office is set to unveil a list of recommended updates to the state’s minimum police training academy requirements.

“We need multidimensional training — the classroom and the mat — that includes scenario-based courses by which the physical aspects of the training are repeated,” Yost said, according to the Daily News. “Repetition is key, so officers can instinctively rely on their training when faced with a hostile situation so that everyone — the community, the officer and the person being detained — remain safe.”

Gov. Mike DeWine’s most recent state budget includes money for an additional 40 hours, continuing education training for police. DeWine rightly reminds lawmakers that any increase in required training should be accompanied by funding, rather than creating an unfunded mandate.

Whatever the solution — and it sounds as though there are multiple good options — reform should not shy away from expecting MORE of the people we want as law enforcement officers.