Running head: Collegiate degrees vs high school 1
Collegiate degrees vs high school 9
Why Police Should Hire Candidates with Collegiate Degrees vice Just a High School/GED
Roger F. Lewis
St. Thomas University
Table of Contents Abstract 3 Why Police Should Hire Candidates with Collegiate Degrees vice Just a High School/GED 4 Literature Review 7 Data Collection 10 Data Analysis/Findings. 11 Conclusion. 12 References 13
Entry into law enforcement is considered one of the most prestigious things that one can do for their community. Law enforcement is also among the best careers that one can take up. It has been a matter of contention on whether the people who have college degrees should be given the priority when it comes to the police recruitment process. Today, law enforcement has changed and is asking for the individuals in the profession to have more education. The law enforcement of today require the education intangibles that a college student will have and there is the need for continuous learning. There are several things in law enforcement which require one to have an education. There are internal politics of the government that one will require an education to understand. There are several issues today in law enforcement which require someone to have the much-needed education. There are influences such as the economy, technology as well as community relations. A formal education is required to understand most of these things better and give services to the community. When a law enforcement officer is educated, they are able to open up new possibilities. With a college degree, one is able to understand the leadership theories that are there as well as new ideas in the world. The presence of a college degree also means that one is able to consider new ideas and process them as a result of the different experiences of people in class. Law enforcement officers need to have been exposed to various cultures and people and gotten into the culture of sharing information. Communication skills are also taught in colleges which can help an individual became a better officer.
Why Police Should Hire Candidates with Collegiate Degrees vice Just a High School/GED
Police recruitment has been an emphasis on law enforcement agencies for decades. This controversial topic has attracted different researchers to investigate the relationship between higher education and policing in combating crimes. The concepts of police modernization and professionalism are surrounded by the quality of police education and training concerning the effects it brings to organizational transformation and individual performance (Francis & McCafferty, 2003). Bearing in mind the security and safety of citizens is one of the key government goal pillars, education, and well-trained law enforcement officers are integral in revolutionizing the policing department. Expansive research has found that significant shifts in the nature of police work and policing practices have significantly changed in the 21st century because candidates with college degrees are preferred as compared to the tradition of recruiting uneducated candidates (Anthony, 2012). Some of the critical playing factors pushing to this adaption are the relationship between initial training, academic qualifications to advance police professionalism as well as career progression. The reason why degree candidates should be a priority according to research is the value of technical competency of police training and education as an instrument of accountability and the current forces in the police departments that diverse skills to fit in today’s model. The focus and direction of this discussion are to show why candidates with college degrees should be a priority in police recruitment because they gained skills enough to bring effects on behavior and performance, a positive impact on attitudes and beliefs.
There are a few contrasts and varieties that exist in police institute training processes and content for recently hired officials crosswise over areas and districts. The objective of the process of higher learning training and education is the advancement of minds, career objectives, and attitudes of future law requirement officials accountable for the social order (Jason, 2010). Formal and structured training for new individuals is necessary to what law requirement foundations or police institutes represent. Different methods and procedures, for example, understanding the use of vital crucial training equipment significant to the local, provincial, or national measures that apply to the part of the nation, state, or country, make up a great part of the content and preparing for new police recruits. Police training regularly appears as a responsive program where it is viewed as a method for correcting police misconduct and transforming the whole police organization. Hopefully, nonetheless, police training ought to be a proactive program where education and training go parallel to update specialized police aptitudes as a vehicle to help export community policing, human rights, the rule of law, and democratization to developing countries.
The paper will explore the above-mentioned themes using a narrative theory study whereby a semi-structured interview of police and staff with higher education experiences will be used to collect data. A summary of the existing literature is provided before discussing the findings. Choosing this method was appropriate because it helped researchers in developing contextual knowledge instead of using a method used for purposes of compatibility. Therefore, the method allows for a better “elaboration and clarification” (McHenry, n.d.). Such a methodology is especially significant concerning research subjects, similar to this one, where there is a shortage of existing experimental information on the issues being addressed among this occupational populace. In this regard, this examination may be named ‘Exploratory’ (Stickle, 2016) in that it takes into consideration a less prescriptive way to deal with producing qualitative information that will allow points to be drawn from the data during the investigation stage. This methodology is significant in that it goes some way towards placing itself in the Weberian custom that maintains avoid from, “pre-definition of what is to be considered important” (Scherman, 2019) by enabling enough adaptability for interviewees to emphasize relevant subjects within the parameters of the question.
Literature Review
In the recent past, American policing was expressed by no particular standards, ineffectual techniques, modes training, recurrent corruption and police cruelty and lack of reasonable command systems. In the beginning of the occupation. The duty of a police personnel could be illustrated by just a few ability sets. Actually, when likened to the modern legal setting, law implementation officers of the yesteryear belonged to so me what simple profession. Officers of the past had the freedom to use expansive means to realize the mission of bringing criminals to justice. There existed limited reliance on more intellectual and scientific equipment to control offences in prior periods. As legal structures continue to be more complicated, community’ expectations of the police personnel have increased (Law Enforcement Degrees & Police Careers 2019). Therefore, there is the slithering criterion by community to balance due practice with offense control in the criminal justice structures.
The education and functioning of police personnel are key importance since it is vital that agencies pinpoint the best forecasters to identify an individual’s ability and prospect for success in policing. A police sector has the utmost recurrent and intimate contact between the government and the society. This therefore means the better the police personnel create positive interactions with stakeholders and carry out their law enforcement responsibilities can lead to enhanced social welfares and the insight that procedural integrity exists (Edwards 2017).
The improved public interaction and functioning-based prospects of a police personnel with college education gives ibn law implementations is a vibrant behavioral study which gathered momentum after 9/11 as policing moved from randomized watch patterns, maintenance of peace and being assessed in terms of response-times. Stakeholders now anticipate that police personnel will analyze the cause of crime, recommend remedies, heal social illnesses, lessen recidivism and address public problems with transparency (Harmon 2011).
The extension of police functions includes a reliance upon technology and the demand for advanced skill levels. The moderns police personnel are the gatekeepers of criminal justice system and their modern tools include; license plate recognition system, personal computers, link analysis programs, international positioning systems etc. (Gardiner 2015). This advancement requires that a person has advanced education levels. Even though not everybody accepts that police personnel require college degrees, common policing approaches like intelligence-led policing, community policing as well as problem- concerned policing need police personnel to analyze data, explain complicated problems and carryout a range of multifaceted duties in a professional and socially sensitive style. Although the question exists on whether college degrees is important for police personnel, it is definitely valuable.
A certain study was carried out on over 1707 members of the New York City Police Department which was signed up in 1995 and allotted permanent authorities upon completing Academy training. Features of the members of the course that were determined at the end of the tuition were obtained from NYPD staffs and police Academy. The ideologies of performance model were utilized to establish behaviors that could be deemed superior performance, and then quantifiable pointers for such functioning were identified and subjected to investigation by use of cross tabulation and linear reversion. The research determined that female police officers with four-year college degrees were more probable of giving out superior performance in the extents that functioned as pointers for good verdict and considerate collaboration with the community (Spangenberg 2016). Additionally, the study found out that the New York City residents and police officers whose absolute Police Academy status was in the upper half of the class were more probable of having greater performance in events which functioned as indicators for a greater rate of structural commitment.
The world has continued to experience a rise and growth of technology. Advancement of computing and associated software technologies that emerged in the commercial world in the 1980s and making their presence felt even in in the police departments. A new series of information technologies has the capacity to prepare the police department well into the future (Anthony W. Batts 2012). Policing is a service profession whose principal input and foundation for action is information. Information is the vital feature of current societies and is the crucial and central trait of policing. Because the police deeply depend on information and count on the community as the main source of information, the means in which the police decode, encode, obtain, process and utilize information is critical to comprehend their obligation and purpose (Manning 1992). If an officer has not gone through the degree education, they might find it hard to fit in the world of technology which is becoming increasingly rampant.
There exists a leadership deficiency in law implementation and many conventional criminal justice plans include leadership as a Minor portion of their course. As an era of baby boomers start to retire and the occupation is confronted by a slew of fresh problems like the emergence of new technology, community policing demands and organizational revolutions, leaders with familiarity of the 21st century matters are in numerous demand (Hiring for the 21st Century Law Enforcement Officer 2017). But unluckily, there is scarcity of personnel who qualify for such criteria.
What I am adding to this literature is that candidates with college degrees are capable of serving the modern society better and are more capable to handle technology-based crimes than those without college degrees.
Data Collection
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Data Analysis/Findings.
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Conclusion.
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References Anthony W. Batts, Sean Michael Smoot, Ellen Scrivne. 2012. “New Perspectives in PolicingNational Institute of JusticePolice Leadership Challenges in a Changing World.” New Perspectives in Policing 1-24. Bostrom, Matthew D. 2002. “The Influence of Higher Education on Police Officer Work Habits.” Are street smarts better than book smarts 1-8. Carroll Seron, Joseph Pereira and Jean Kovath. 2004. “Judging Police Misconduct: “Street-Level” versus Professional Policing.” JSTOR 41-46. Déverge, Citlali Alexandra. 2016. “Police Education and Training: A ComparativeAnalysis of Law Enforcement Preparation in theUnited States and Canada.” Master’s Thesses 1-143. Edwards, Bradley D. 2017. “Perceived Value of Higher Education Among PoliceOfficers.” Electronic Theses and Dessertations 1-114. Fitzgerald, Joel F., Sr. 2013. “Examining Police Officer Perceptions of the Effects of College Education on Police Practices in Three Texas Police Departments.” ProQuest Central 1-215. Francis L. McCafferty, MD. 2003. “The Challenge of SelectingTomorrow’s Police Officersfrom Generations X and Y.” The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 1-11. Gardiner, Christie. 2015. “College cops: a study of education and policing in California.” ProQuest Central 648-663. n.d. “Going Beyond the Bachelor’s: Why Police Officer Education is So Important.” Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership . https://onlinedegrees.sandiego.edu/why-police-officer-education-is-important/. Gwen Moity Nolan and Dee Wood Harper, Jr. 2007. “INTERNATIONAL POLICE EXECUTIVE SYMPOSIUM GENEVA CENTRE FOR THE DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF ARMED FORCES.” The joint IPES and DCAF Working Paper Series 1-24. Harmon, Lt. Ryan W. 2011. “A New Approach In Recruiting & Retaining Qualified Officers At The Bella Vista Police Department.” Recruiting&RetainingQualifiedOfficers 1-16. 2017. “Hiring for the 21st Century Law Enforcement Officer.” COPS Community Oriented Policing services US Department of Justice 2-78. Jason Rydberg, William Terrill. 2010. “The Effect of Higher Education on Police Behavior.” Police Quarterly 92-120. Katja Hallenberg, Tom Cockcroft. 2015. Police and Higher Education. Research GATE. 2019. “Law Enforcement Degrees & Police Careers.” Learn how to Become. https://www.learnhowtobecome.org/police-officer/. MacNamara, Donal E. J. 1950. “Higher Police Training at the University Level.” JSTOR 2-9. Manning, Peter K. 1992. “Information Technologies and the Police.” Crime and Justice 5-50. McHenry, Michael K. n.d. “A Need for Change: The Importance of Continued Training and Education for Modern Day Police Officers .” Criminal Justice Institute 1-22. 2012. “Police education and discipline.” UMI Dessertation publishing 2-81. Scherman, Jess. 2019. “6 Often Overlooked Qualities of a Great Police Officer.” RASMUSSEN COLLEGE. 9 16. https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/justice-studies/blog/overlooked-qualities-of-police-officer/. Spangenberg, Francis E. 2016. “Characteristics of Newly-hired Members of the New York City Police Department as Predictors of Subsequent Job Performance.” ProQuest Central 1-153. Staufenberger, Richard A. 1977. “The Professionalization of Police: Efforts and Obstacles.” JSTOR 678-685. Stickle, Ben. 2016. “A National Examination of the Effect of Education, Training and Pre-Employment Screening on Law Enforcement Use of Force.” Justice Policy Journal, Spring 2016 1-15.
