Daniel Bowen

CJ 1010
Butler
ePortfolio

Do Police Officers Need A College Education?

In my opinion I do think that police officers should have some type of

college education. Gerald W. Lynch stated 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. This statement sums it all
up for me. Police officers have such an important role that it shouldn't ever
be taken lightly. Education is so easily accessible through college and can
give someone sound judgment, good reasoning ability, knowledge of the law
and maturity. As a citizen, I expect a police officer to have those certain
qualities. I feel more protected and can respect the officer more.

The level of education should be getting an associates degree. This

allows you to learn all the basics that you will need to know for many careers
including being a police officer. To quote Gerald Lynch again, in regards to
getting into the military and how they raised the minimum age to 22 and
started requiring at least 60 college credits, of the police officers arrested
for corrupt acts over the last four years, 86 percent of them would not have

even been hired in the first place under these standards. That is a very
large percentage of people who got arrested and who didn't receive at least
60 college credits. To go even further, college graduates are used to solving
problems and debating different issues. This happens every day as a police
officer. You need to be able to think and to solve problems. Another very
interesting statistic is said that officers with some college education or a
four-year degree resorted to using force 56 percent of the time, while officers
with no college education used force 68 percent of the time.

I also do think that other positions like being a sergeant, Lieutenant, captain
or chief still requires college education. I wouldn't necessarily go as far as to
say that they need more education but I think salaries would have to be
adjusted along with any educational requirements. I don't think there is really
an option in this case. If someone has a better college degree than another
that person becomes more valuable and more desired. I think naturally the
salary for that officer is going to have to go up.

In conclusion, I do think college education is necessary. It gives officers

the education and knowledge to solve problems. College allows you to gain
experience even before you become a police officer. General knowledge is so
important when it comes to working with others. This would lower the rate of
officers getting in trouble or making decisions that could be drastic to
themselves and the entire police force.

Work Cited
Sanderson, B. E. Police officers: The relationship of college education to job
performance. MS thesis. California State University, Los Angeles., 1976.
Carter, David L., Allen D. Sapp, and Darrel W. Stephens. "The state of police education:
Policy direction for the 21st century." Washington, DC: Police Executive Research
Forum, 1989.
Truxillo, Donald M., Suzanne R. Bennett, and Michelle L. Collins. "College education
and police job performance: A ten-year study." Public Personnel Management 27.2
(1998): 269.