The Importance of Higher Education Among Law Enforcement Officers

Baro, A. L., & Burlingame, D. (1999). Law enforcement and higher education: is there an impasse?. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 10(1), 57-73.

This paper will show four different police departments that are currently hiring or recruiting for police officers. There will be a summary on the research found on the process used to recruit police officers. It will also show their current hiring trends and what hiring practices they have that are successful or not successful. The paper will also go over the different methods departments use to train their new officers and their values.

First, there is lack of information and knowledge on the right police training philosophy, learning approach and training program objectives (CALEA, 2010). This lack of knowledge has immense negative effects on police training, especially because it affects not only senior commanders of police departments but also management, police trainers and other staffs. The other ingredient to police training that lacks is community understanding and support for police training programs (Mitrani, 2014). It is found out that the communities that are served by officers do little to support or appreciate post-academy training programs, which have numerous benefits to communities (CALEA, 2010). For instance, post-academy and field training for newly posted officers helps in the utilization of individual and department creativity, stakeholder collaboration, and effective problem-solving skills and techniques that would improve communal safety and

Training is one of the most important roles at a law enforcement agency. It is never-ending as “concepts, theories, philosophies, practices, procedures, and techniques are constantly changing to meet social needs” (Iannone et al, 2009, p. 60). Without training, even the best officer will turn into one that is not respected by his peers or society. Gone are the days when an officer is sent to the training academy and has no more except for yearly inservice. This can be accomplished with field training after the academy, roll call training, inservice, emailed updates from the training staff, and outside the agency training. It does not always have to be expensive. Most think that the effectiveness of training can’t be measured, but successful training can easily be seen through “higher morale, less job stress with its high economic cost, greater esprit de corps, a lessened need for punitive discipline, greater effectiveness, in crime suppression, increased public support and confidence, fewer errors, better

As you progress towards becoming a police officer, you must obviously go through rigorous training programs. Of these training programs, people must go to a police academy in order to train new officers. In these academies, training is committed to the basics of combat policing such as self-defense, firing range, and field tactics. Police Academies usually take roughly 12 to 14 weeks to train soon-to-be officers on these important basic tactics (BLS, 2010-11).

Concepts like crime prevention, authority, professionalism and discretion have evolved in modern law enforcement since the twentieth century. August Vollmer instituted university training as a tool for young officers in training and under Vollmer’s teachings; O.W. Wilson pioneered the use of advanced training for officers and is also known for the start of criminal justice as an academic field. Wilson was also instrumental in applying modern management and administrative techniques to policing. Vollmer’s drive for educational innovations and improvements has changed policing tremendously and is still practiced heavily upon in today’s modern law enforcement society.

Many people might argue that the lack of training in the police force is more harmful to the officers than the effect it has on society. Leslie Pfeiffer mentions in her article “” that the Federal government devotes a shocking amount of money toward training, yet local police agencies are often left to fend for themselves” (Pfeiffer). Whatsoever the federal government may be doing with the funds should undoubtedly be providing effective programs and necessities to ensure a complete and sufficient training process for officers. Often time’s people forget that although the officer is vulnerable to failure, error, and possible injury, in the event of a possible suspect or wrongfully accused person the lack of knowledge perceived by the officer can cause outcomes such as hostility, hatred, and death. Not only are officers fending for themselves but in

Many businesses require their upper-level leadership to have a degree. The police departments are now starting to change to that style of education hiring. The hiring process can be very complicated because the police department wants to ensure that they are hiring the right person that fits their department. Choosing the right applicant for the job is an important decision because of the cost of the equipment, uniforms, training, and probation period because this is an investment in the departments future (Dempsey, & Forst, 2016). Because the police departments are requiring their officers to have an associate’s or bachelor’s degree for an entry-level position will make the department more completive, but the department should still consider

A critical issue that law enforcement faces from the time it was created to present day, is a lack of police training. The most recent data research done by the Bureau of Justice Statistics about police training across the United States was done in 2009. It reported that in the year 2009 basic training programs averaged 761 hours of classroom training (about 19 weeks). A third of academies also had additional mandatory field training with an average length of 453 hours. The topics with the average most instruction time in these training programs consisted of firearm training (60 hours), self-defense (51 hours), health and fitness (46 hours), patrol procedures (40 hours), investigations (40 hours), emergency vehicle operations (40 hours), criminal law (36 hours), and basic first aid (24 hours). In Texas, only 618 hours of basic training are required by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

Courts, police, and corrections have been established in order to enforce law. These agencies consist of trained and educated individuals in the criminal justice field. Police officers are required to attend an academy where they learn, “…state laws, criminal investigations, patrol procedures, firearms training, traffic control, defensive driving, self-defense, first aid and computer skills” (Education Portal). These officers are prepared to deal with any dangerous situations in a safe and

Wilson, credited with being “the most influential figures in making [professionalism] the dominant paradigm in American policing” (Henry, 2003, p. 81). Vollmer served as Berkeley California’s Chief of Police from 1905 to 1932, during which he revolutionized policing by increasing efficiency and providing resources for the police to better serve their community (Henry, 2003). As Chief, Vollmer made Berkeley “the first police agency to deploy its entire patrol force in automobiles, enabling officers to respond to reported crimes even more rapidly” (Henry, 2003, p. 81). Knowing that policing was a multifaceted service, Vollmer believed that police officers should be proficient in knowledge of law and their duties and social skills, but they also should continue their education and receive advanced training (Henry, 2003). He held the belief that higher “education held the key to transforming policing into a true profession, equal in status and stature to the legal and medical professions” (Henry, 2003, p. 81). Holding the same values, Vollmer’s protégée, O.W. Wilson, used the skills and leadership attributes learned from Vollmer to improve and reform the Wichita, Kansas Police Department (Henry, 2003). Wilson, similarly to Vollmer, researched how to improve efficiency and implemented new technology to better serve the community (Henry, 2003). Vollmer and Wilson’s dedication to and implementation of technology in

If you currently are or will be considering becoming a law enforcement officer you will hopefully find the following information useful. I will be conveying to you not only the importance of professional appearance and means you can use to be more efficient at presenting such an appearance. While representing a state, city or county a less than professional image as an officer is not acceptable. As a public servant an officer’s appearance is the public’s first impression of who you are and what you represent or stand for. Not caring about your own appearance as a professional may lead some to assume you do not care about your job. We will discuss the reasons an officer should take extra pride in their appearance as well as steps to take that will assist in achieving a more professional appearance. Hopefully you will consider the advice given to you and make yourself a more professional looking officer or officer to be.

A growing number of entry-level criminal justice practitioners have college degrees. This paper will explore whether or not law enforcement agencies should require applicants to have a post secondary degree as a condition of employment and will college-educated police officers will be resistant to organizational change.

Law enforcement officers are inducted into the police subculture early in their career. As early as the academy, law enforcement recruits begin learning about ethics, rank structure, ethos, and other values. During the academy, recruits are trained on specific tasks tailored to police work from 8 to 16 weeks. They are taught combative skills, marksmanship, defensive driving, and other techniques unique to law enforcement by the academy staff. The academy staff normally consists of seasoned officers that usually have military training or backgrounds. In most cases, recruits tend to emulate or try to identify with these officers.

In the world of law enforcement and crime laboratories, there is always a great need to train newly hired crime scene investigators and laboratory analysts. In addition, continuing education to gain or maintain certifications and/or laboratory accreditation is important to keep professionals up to date with the newest technologies and techniques. However, in the United States, licensing and certification for crime scene and laboratory personnel is not usually required, but often noted as a preferred or desired qualification (NCR, 2009). If required, certification is usually established at the agency level and not mandated by the state. With more than 17,000 agencies in the U.S., ranging in size from just a few officers in rural communities to more than 36,000 sworn officers in the New York Police Department (Burch, et al., 2012), consistency in qualifications, training standards and expectations is difficult to find at any level, regardless of the beliefs held by the general public regarding the capabilities of their criminal justice system. In looking at training issues internationally, the fragmented scenario in the U.S. is similar to that of Australia, but countries such as the Netherlands and United Kingdom use centralized training programmes that tend to be more cost-effective and consistent.