Heather Curtis

CJ 1010, Spring 2018

Chris Bertram

Would our society benefit if our police officers were required to obtain a college

education? There are both negative and positive aspects of asking our officers to seek higher

education. Some drawbacks would be the ever-increasing costs of tuition and the associated

college loans that go along with that, as well the low pay already facing our officers. However,

there are many benefits that go along with a college education, and commanding officers would

be more well-rounded and better prepared to manage such a high-stress environment. They

would have a better understanding of the psychological effect of their jobs and their role in the

community, and community relations could also improve.

Education is important for most careers in the modern era, it is difficult to get any job

these days without a college education or some form of specialized education. Our officers are

required to go through the police academy, and this is where they learn the practical nature of the

job. They learn state and local laws and policies, proper equipment usage, and the basics of

investigation and reporting techniques. Once they leave the academy, the real world tends to be

the real teaching tool and is where most officers get a feel for handling various situations. We

could prepare our officers in a classroom for years, and still not cover everything they may deal

with. Sometimes real-world experience is the best teacher, and no one can understand things like

getting a feel for peoples posture and body language unless you have had to deal with it time and

time again. Is the training through the police academy enough of an education for the intense role

of public service that these individuals are about to take on? Though this real-world experience is
invaluable, it does not substitute for a better understanding of the mental processes that one may

encounter throughout a career in police work. This could be individuals with mental health

issues, dealing with significant amounts of stress, or the fear and anxiety that could come along

with poor prior experiences with police. This could allow them to alter their approach to fit the

situation and potentially de-escalate tense encounters if possible. If you combine a well-balanced

education with real-world experience, we will find ourselves with officers that are more well-

rounded and prepared for the various situations they encounter day in and day out. This would

be particularly important for those seeking leadership positions. According to the Assistant chief

of police, Jose Tellez (2017) in San Diego, “If you have any aspirations to be a supervisor or

work in management, then you definitely should get your master’s degree."

With the meager pay that beginning police officers receive, however, how can they be

expected to pay off college loans and still make a decent living wage? If officers are required to

acquire education past their academy training, then it is reasonable to assume that a pay increase

would be necessary also. In order for this pay raise, the public taxes would need to be increased,

or a federal grant would need to be set up, which may still require a tax increase. Perhaps we

could look to another government body for guidance, as the Armed Forces offer college tuition

reimbursement as a benefit to joining the military. Would it be such a stretch to offer similar

benefits to our understaffed police forces? After all, this may help in recruiting a higher class of

candidate as well. Some police departments across the country offer incentives now. The Salt

Lake City Police Department has a reimbursement of up to 5,000 annually. (UPDSL 2018)

However, as we will discuss in further depth, later on, this does not cover half of the average cost

of tuition. Unfortunately, if there were no pay increase or a substantial subsidy to offset the cost

of higher education, potential officers with a degree would be able to find higher paying jobs that
did not require them to put their lives in danger. This could cause officers to leave law

enforcement for a less demanding position in the private sector that would not jeopardize their

personal safety. We are putting our lives and safety in the hands of young men and women that

may not have much real-world experience. A well-rounded candidate to become an officer

should have some knowledge of how to work in groups settings, public speaking, social work,

and psychology. These should be requirements to help prepare the potential police officers for

some of the curveballs that may come their way.

We entrust our soldiers to protect and serve us, similar to the police, and the Army allows

recruits to join without a college education. Any training that they need is provided through their

basic training and deployments. To be able to advance into positions of higher power such as

commanding officers, one is required to have a bachelor’s degree. Along with the potential for

career advancement, the pay is adjusted accordingly. There are “four paths that can be taken in

becoming an officer, Army ROTC, direct commission, officer candidate school, and the United

States Military Academy.” (GoArmy, 2018) All of which require a college degree, hard work,

and merit. Implementing a similar policy in our police force could have significant benefits. The

first would probably be similar to what we see in the army, where there are many who sign up

for a few years initially and choose not to re-enlist, while others who wish to pursue a career then

do put in the work to advance their education in order to receive promotions and more desirable

positions. This could allow some to try out policing as a career while still allowing them the

flexibility of a career change if it is not something they see themselves doing long term. In

addition to this, our officers could have a better understanding of the social work aspects that go

into working on the civilian side of the criminal justice system. Another benefit would be

communication courses and group projects where collaboration is essential for success.
 According to Law Enforcement Edu, these are the current requirements to become a police

officer in the state of Utah. “You must, be a U.S. citizen, be at least 21 years old, have a high

school diploma or equivalent, have a valid Utah driver’s license, have no felony convictions,

have no domestic violence convictions. Preference is given to applicants with an associates

degree.” (SLCPD, 2018) These requirements seem to be the bare minimum; they don’t appear to

be sufficient for those who are enforcing the law and taking on an authoritarian role. They seem

ill-equipped to deal with the psychological rigors of modern police work. “Today’s policing, he

said, “is much more about social work than it is law enforcement. It’s about resolving low-level

disputes, dealing with loiterers and so on.” Officers with experience in psychology, sociology,

and other college-taught disciplines might be more adapt at addressing these issues.” (Henion, &

Terrill, 2015) Equipping our streets with well-educated officers could prevent many unnecessary

officer-involved shootings, and in turn, start to improve community relations that have been

falling for years. Though education is important, it will not be a fix all for the issue of

community relations that seems to grow exponentially worse with each passing year. Another

aspect that could help make sure we have qualified candidates would be to require quarterly

psychological evaluations of current officers, instead of assessment during an investigation due

to an officer-involved shooting, or other severe cases. Education is a great way to help mentally

prepare the police to see things from the public point of view and to help de-escalate situations,

but all of this can and does take an emotional toll on the police. Perhaps by taking psychology

courses, they would have a better understanding of what they are experiencing after a traumatic

event, and thus be able to verbalize to a therapist the inner workings of their mind during those

times. This same training would help them better relate to the public who may be in a panicked
or distressed state during their encounters with police and of course when dealing with

individuals who are themselves suffering from mental illness.

While the benefits are plentiful, we must consider what the cost of school is in the

modern era, and how that compares to police earnings. According to the University of Utah

admissions page, the average yearly cost for 26 credit hours, 13 in the fall semester and 13 in the

spring semester, each student will pay $7,956 for tuition and fees, $1,232 for books and supplies,

and around $3,690 for transportation and miscellaneous items. In total that is roughly $12,878

yearly to attend school. The average pay for beginning police officers in the state of Utah is

approximately $41,600 annually in 2018. (SLCPD, 2018) After taxes have been removed and

student loans are factored in, a police officer in the state of Utah would be barely making enough

to survive. When considering all of these factors, officers paying out of pocket could end up

below the poverty line. Should we expect our police to endanger their lives for such minimal

pay? If society wants our officers to acquire higher education, we must also give financial

incentives in order to make the job more desirable and attract the highest of qualified candidates.

It seems clear that for our departments to get the best trained and well-balanced officers, we do

need to require a higher standard than just having a high school education for law enforcement

officers that want to advance their careers.

As the times change so should the education requirements for our officers, with new

technologies, comes news and ever-changing criminal tactics that seem to be a few steps ahead

of our police force. If we hope to combat these growing threats to our society, we must ask more

from the ones who enforce the laws and stop criminal acts. How can we expect our officers to

attempt to stay on top of these issues if we have not provided them with the proper education to
be able to recognize and address these problems? Criminals never stop learning new ways to

wreak havoc, we must not require less from our officers if we expect to make progress in an

attempt to slow down criminal activity. “leaders with knowledge of 21st-century issues are in

great demand. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of officers who meet these criteria. For officers

interested in leadership roles, there has never been a better time to go back to school for an

advanced degree in law enforcement leadership.” (University of San Diego, 2015) The quality of

the education that we are asking the officers to obtain should also be held to a higher standard.

William Terrill said in a Science Daily article, “many degree-granting programs, particularly

online programs, are technical in nature and don’t foster the analytical skills found in the social

sciences. There are a lot of so-called ‘cop shops’ out there that aren’t very academically

rigorous.” (University of San Diego,2015) We should not look to discount education in order to

fill the needs of our officers. The world is a rapidly evolving place. Technology advancements

and the shifting priorities of our society means that our police forces must be adaptable.

“Policing does not exist in a vacuum. It is impacted upon daily and, in the long term, by changes

in the social, political, economic, technological, environmental and legal structures, in whatever

country it is practiced. It therefore follows that the future structure and activities of policing will

be shaped by the future changes within these and other activities.” (Rogers, Frevel, 2018)

In conclusion, educated police officers would be a benefit to their communities, but the

compensation for their education needs to be addressed. Increasing the pay of police officers and

providing college grants and discounts could be a way to achieve this. We need to honestly ask

ourselves if we are providing the brave men and women who server our communities with the

best possible training to not only ensure the safety of themselves and civilians but the knowledge

necessary to appropriately address the problems facing modern society. We should strive to
recruit the best, highly trained officers available in order to combat the ever-evolving criminal

world and to help promote a better unity between police and their communities. The best way to

accomplish this seems to be in providing our community police departments with a highly

educated officer core that would be better equipped to deal with the challenges that arise both

inside and outside the walls of the department. In this way, we can ensure that those who wish to

join the police can learn necessary on the job skills at an entry level while providing the

leadership is appropriately equipped to mold future generations.

Worked cited:

A Firsthand Account of the Importance of Education in Law Enforcement. (2018). Retrieved

April 05, 2018, from https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/importance-education-law-enforcement/

Becoming a U.S. Army Officer. (n.d.). Retrieved April 05, 2018, from

https://www.goarmy.com/careers-and-jobs/become-an-officer.html

Henion, Terrill. (2015) https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2015/do-cops-need-college/

Law Enforcement Careers in Utah. (n.d.). Retrieved April 05, 2018, from

https://www.lawenforcementedu.net/utah

Office of Admissions. (n.d.). Retrieved April 05, 2018, from http://admissions.utah.edu/cost/

Rogers C., Frevel B. (2018) Introduction: Higher Police Education—An International

Perspective.

Sworn Careers – SLCPD. (n.d.). Retrieved April 05, 2018, from

http://www.slcpd.com/careers/joinourteam/

Why Police Officer Education Is So Important. (2017, March 13). Retrieved April 05, 2018,

from https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/why-police-officer-education-is-important/

FAQs. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.updsl.org/page_employment_faq.php#p4