Clayton Andrew Binks CJ1010 E Portfolio research assignment.

11/11/2013

Police Officers need education

Professionalism, by definition, involves belonging to a profession and behaving in a way that is consistent with professional standards. A profession is an occupation that requires extensive training and the study and mastery of specialized knowledge. It usually requires accreditation, certification, or licensing. It has a specific code of ethics, and it holds members accountable. (Carter, PhD., Lycia, and Mark Wilson, PhD). Even before having this class I have heard this argument a hundred times. Having a college education does not make someone a good cop. I couldnt agree more. Common sense, empathy, integrity, strong sense of duty, are just a few things I believe make a good police officer. Do Police Officers need a college education? No. a college degree does not make a good police officer; it makes a good police officer better. The public expects Police Officers to know everything. An impossible feat, but we can come much closer if we have a college degree. I have been a police officer for 9 years. I do not have a college degree. Most of the things police officers do on a daily basis dont require a degree, instead Police have very specialized training. Police train extensively in many areas including; rapid response to crisiss including active shooters, natural disasters, large scale industrial accidents to name a few. Ive attended training in computer forensics, advanced DNA collection, Interview and interrogation courses, and the list goes on. Police are required to attend a certain amount of training every year just to keep our jobs. Though I dont have a college degree, I have attended college courses and Im currently working towards graduation. Several classes have been highly advantageous to me in the way I conduct my duties. For example; after my last diversity class, I had a realization. I have limited exposure to many other cultures. I didnt know who Jim Crow was or anything about the civil rights struggle except what Ive seen on television. I was not aware of all the statistics supporting racial and gender inequality and I never thought about the Criminal Justice System as a system, I only saw the small portion in which I worked.

After taking several classes in Sociology, Race and Gender, and Criminal Justice, it has opened my eyes to a world I never knew. If I ever want to be effective in my career I feel like I need to be able to understand these social problems. Otherwise Ill be limited to treating the symptoms because I dont understand the cause. I think that the more education an officer has the better service they can provide. By providing excellent service to the public it will help restore some of the public trust. So why dont more police agencies require a college education? Government agencies typically have an allotted annual budget in which they must operate. Education is not on the top of the list, payroll is. Somewhere far below the cost of pay roll each year is training. Training is expensive; so many departments cut the training off for officers at the minimum annual required training (40 hours in Utah). If I have training in Emergency Vehicle Operations that lasts all week, its possible I will not be able to attend non- mandatory training, unless its free. According to a study conducted in St. Paul Minnesota in between 1999-2002, suggest that Officers with a Bachelors degree of arts are better employees than those with no college education. (Bostrom, Matthew) The positive findings of this research indicate that as a group, officers with Bachelor of Arts degrees are typically excellent employees who use less sick time, are involved in fewer traffic collisions, are disciplined less often, and receive more commendations. Based on these findings, the study even suggests that its possible cities may save money by hiring Officers with a Bachelors of Arts degree. This study also revealed that Officers with a college degree were less likely to resort to using force because they had more experience solving problems. (Carter, PhD., Lycia, and Mark Wilson, PhD) I dont know enough about this study to agree or disagree, but I know enough about law enforcement to know that it is a profession; therefore we are required to be professionals. Professionals should be educated in their field. Some of the best education is job experience, but classroom based learning is just as important. My suggestion is not to ask if officers should have a degree, rather we should ask; how can Law Enforcement attract more people with college degrees, and how can we educate the officers we already have? Its not a simple solution; Requiring a college education limits the number of minorities who might otherwise be qualified for the job. (Johnson, Kevin) I think its important to include as many minorities in Law Enforcement as possible. We need to find a way to get officers without education, education, and educated candidates into Law Enforcement. Ive thought of a few ideas. I would stop promoting officers without a degree, and offer tuition reimbursement. Let officers attend a class while on duty, and have shift rotations coincide with the local colleges semesters. Upon an employees hiring, make a condition be to have a degree, by a certain time period after employment. Require them to show significant progress along the way. Why not partner with Community Colleges and University to get our officers into the classroom. Police agencies already patrol college campuses, why not do some trade work. A police agency could provide an agreed amount of extra coverage for an

agreed amount of semester hours for officers. Oregon recently suggested a bill that would allow residents to attend school for tuition free school. Its a very intriguing idea, and could be applied to people already employed within their chosen professions. (Hammond, Betsy). Most law enforcement

agencies are committed to helping officers become educated. It makes the department look nicer to the public, it makes us more effective, and it would help officers better understand issues among the lower class and minorities. By understanding more about minorities, I think it would help create more empathy and it might even help erase racial profiling in law enforcement.
We have enormous expectations of our police officers, but we don't invest enough in preparing them for their enormous tasks. Police officers need not only physical courage but sound judgment, good reasoning ability, knowledge of the law and maturity. A college degree can help provide these qualities. (Lynch, Dr. Gerald)
Sources cited: Carter, PhD., Lycia, and Mark Wilson, PhD. "Measuring Professionalism of Police Officers." Police Chief The Professional Voice of Law Enforcement. 01 11 2013: 8. Print. <http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display&article_id=971&issue_id=82006>.

(Lynch, Dr. Gerald. POLICE OFFICERS NEED COLLEGE TRAINING:." NY Post [New York City] 14 02 1996, Post Letters 26. Print.)
Johnson, Kevin. "Police agencies find it hard to require degrees." USAToday [Nation] 18 09 2006, n. pag. Print. <http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-17-police-education_x.htm>. Hammond, Betsy. "Oregon plan for tuition-free, loan-free university attendance an appealing concept, not a done deal." Oregonian 09 07 2013, n. pag. Print. <http://www.oregonlive.com/education/index.ssf/2013/07/oregon_plan_for_tuition-free_l.html>.

Bostrom, Matthew. "The Influence of Higher Education on Police Officer Work Habits." Police Chief The Professional Voice of Law Enforcement. 10 10 2005: Vol.72. Print. <http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display_arch&article_id= 722&issue_id=102005>.