In response to ubiquitous calls for police reform, this researcher sought to ascertain the extent to which, if any, basic police academy training in the United States of America has heeded the call. The researcher made twenty years’ worth of police training survey data, collected by the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics and published under the titles “State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies”, the object of his attention. The number of academy directors who responded to surveys for this descriptive analysis ranged from 626 to 747. Results were published in 2002, 2006, 2013, 2018 and 2022. Using empathy as a hermeneutical key, this researcher examined (1) ethics-related curriculum content in the BJS reports, (2) the number of content hours assigned to interactional legitimacy, (3) the percentage of contact hours assigned against the overall Basic Peace Officer Course curriculum hours, (4) national trends and (5) compared trends in the BJS data with trends in Texas’ academy curriculum. At both the national and Texas-state levels, the researcher observed a significant rise in course content and contact hours that speak to, for and about the need to train neophyte officers to be more kindly disposed toward marginalized persons. Following on the heels of Bureau of Justice Statistics and Texas-based data, are analytical reflections on best practices in police education, related to the inculcation of values. A preliminary, descriptive analysis in a woefully understudied field, it is hoped agencies will use information herein to-if need be-update the quantity and quality of empathy-related course blocks in basic police officer education. This research is part of its author’s PhD research at the University of Cambridge, that began when he was superintending three police academies in Texas, USA, through the Dallas College system. He covets affirmations, critiques, and notification of any related studies-especially from other parts of the world.