Police Officer Higher Education: An Omnibus Review

• In Event: The Importance of School Safety, Higher Education, and Data Analytics in Policing

Abstract

Pundits in the realm of criminal justice administration tell us that a college degree is unnecessary for police officer applicants and beyond the practical reach of police agencies. Many studies have shown that a college degree has no application to policing and should not be a requirement for employment. Police chiefs and sheriffs have proclaimed that a college degree requirement shrinks the pool of potential candidates and thus makes recruiting even more difficult at a time when policing has been demeaned and vilified in the public’s eye by the media. Contrary to the theme above, this article is among many that attempt to show that there are tangible benefits to hiring college graduates with an associate’s degree but even more so for applicants with a bachelor's degree or higher.

Author

• James E. Guffey, National University