The age-old discussion of having education requirements for police officers still continues to swirl today. One of the calls in police reforms is that of requiring college degrees for all future applicants. The justification for this is that an applicant with a formal education could be a better decision maker in dealing with public encounters. Some even focus in requesting specific majors such as psychology or sociology, instead of the typical criminal justice. Many departments also want similar requirements on their future leaders as well; the candidate with letters behind their name, or even a ‘finishing school’ as well, to take the job.
Entrance Thresholds
When you research all of the states’ minimum requirements for law enforcement certification, many still have the threshold of a general educational diploma (GED) or high school diploma. So, therein lies the rub: the state minimums require only the basic and reformers desire the educated officer. Throughout the years, I have listened to this debate every time that it resurfaces. Yes, I have known several great officers who had but only the basics of education. This may have been due to their limited opportunities in their life, but they made the most of what they had offered to them.
Granted, a formal education is not the definitive decision measure; in other words the more educated, the better the decision. Common sense has to be applied to every police encounter; this goes without saying. Although there is no approved vendor that produces a commonsense pill, it’s an item which every chief and sheriff would purchase for departmental issue when available. Still, those calling for the more educated officer will also add that these officers will have increased oral and written communication skills.
The institutes of higher learning continue to offer even more reasons to seek a degree from them. Then of course, education is a self-perpetuating science. If you have a degree, a higher level one would be better. Sadly, we have all known young officers who had amassed vast college debts and are now overqualified for their jobs.
Employer wants and offers
There is a trend in many agencies to encourage and reward those with higher educations to apply. Due to these perilous times that we are living in, we all seem to be troubled over the idea of police reforms—defunding and loss of qualified immunity for examples. Agencies that offer educational incentives will have to justify this benefit in the future should their budgets become compromised. Some may actually be ‘easing’ their requirements now due to their inability to recruit from the current applicant pools. I warn you that you cannot stay in the shallow end of the applicant pool without risks.
The end game for future leaders
Eventually, there will be the need for succession planning within an organization’s leadership ranks. Here too, the problem becomes more convoluted. I have witnessed several different versions of how this should be addressed by various governmental funding bodies.
College tuition assistance or performance pay for college educated staff will only survive within two situations. One within the organization that rewards prior educational degrees will have to have this perk protected within the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). For those not covered by a CBA, the budget will have to allow for this and be protected from budget-reducing detractors.
Many officers (including myself) have attended and completed their degrees while working. This for me, working as a sergeant with a family working off-duty to pay tuition costs, made me strive and more appreciative than I could ever imagine. My personal pursuit was due to the requirements for promotion (and later a chief of police job). I had to have that bachelor’s degree. For others, it provides more deeper meaning. One of my former staffers, Lt. Chris McKim of the Ephrata Police Department in Pennsylvania said this after completing his degree: “Completing my education after a 23-year hiatus from college was a great experience. It wasn’t the material, so much, that made it enjoyable, but the process. College courses are very different when experienced through the lens of 22 years police experience. Learning came easier because I could see where each of the courses could apply in my life and career. I could relate to much of my coursework. I lived through some of the incidents that changed policing (Rodney King, 9/11) so it wasn’t all history and theory.”
Finishing schools
In the realm of police ‘finishing schools’ or command/leadership schools, I tend to view the top three,
in no particular order:
- Southern Police Institute at the University of Louisville. (https://louisville.edu/spi)
- The FBI National Academy at Quantico (https://www.fbi.gov/services/training-academy/national-academy)
- Northwestern Institute for Public Safety (https://sps.northwestern.edu/center-for-public-safety/management)
I have seen several instances where the elected officials, being overly miserly, would not grant this training and support. Some felt that if this has not been done before, they did not want to set a precedent where we would have to pay for this every year. Others felt that once a commander has this achievement they will be lured away by a larger agency. A few have even gone to draw up work agreements with pay-back penalties should they leave this employment prior to normal career timelines.
The other main issue here is to discuss the personal dedication it requires to attend these programs. I have known several aspiring candidates turn down this opportunity due to their personal reasons or stations in life. They need to be home to help raise a young family, the lack of spousal/partner support and some just did not want to enter into this demanding course work. Again, these were their personal decisions which I was forced to respect.
Of course, every state has its own supervisory and leadership courses via their state or local police academy. Some provide a logical progressive training track to meet the demands of their particular assignments. Again, not one size or course fits all; it requires the training director or future student to perform due diligence. Dr. C. Vance McLaughlin, noted law enforcement trainer, said this: “A continuing challenge when sending people to training or academic courses is a lack of clear understanding about what is going to be taught to the student and concomitantly, once the course is successfully completed, what positive changes will result for the agency. It seems that the course title and a two sentence description is all that is needed to get the “paperwork” done. It should be someone’s job to do a more in depth investigation.”
Is there a true answer?
No, there is not. I agree that in a perfect world, if we could gather all the recruits needed to fill the ranks with ease, it would be great. To hire those who possess a degree, who are in excellent physical condition and pass the background check, a truly great world it would be. But due to lack of educational opportunities of some, lack of monies to pursue an education prior to application, creates a disparity; it will take several more years to accomplish. Should law enforcement wish to advance to meet the ever-changing challenges before them, several things must occur. Departments must continue to reward those who possess degrees; it prevents them from being lured away. Departments must vigorously fund and defend their training budgets to encourage staff to pursue their educational quests. Elected officials must find the way to overlook their pennywise but pound-foolish ways to further invest in their future leaders training. There are no easy answers to this. It will require time, money and fortitude.
