Do Police Officers Need A College Education?

Term Paper/ePortfolio Criminal Justice 1010

Jordan Newbould
Professor Don Daufenbach
Salt Lake Community College
Do Police Officers Need A College Education?

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Do Police Officers Need A College Education?

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The steps it takes to becoming a law enforcement officer contains a specific set of duties
and responsibilities that include: enforcing the law, quickly responding to situations of
emergency, making arrests, and even issuing citations, but can also incorporate daily police work
such as, patrolling, writing reports, and filling out forms. It takes a special kind of commitment
to work in any law enforcement position. Law enforcement officers are exposed to challenges
daily while risking their lives to protect their communities and provide safety to civilians.
Officers strive to make our community a safer and more secured place to live in. Future recruits
for employment need to be aware that being a cop requires active engagement in those specific
responsibilities and daily duties. Being a police officer is not just a job, but a lifestyle that
requires discipline, and education. Some key characteristics sought for in police officers may
consist of: being community oriented, maintaining effective communication skills, having
humility, intrapersonal skills, being a quick-witted problem solver, having perseverance and
sound judgement.
Minimum qualifications for being a law enforcement officer will vary depending on the
agency, but usually includes being a U.S citizen, being at least 21 years of age, and having a
clean criminal background with no felony convictions. Also, you will be required to meet
standard physical, medical, hearing, and vision requirements. Written exams, drug test,
background check, and psychological evaluations are all a part of the hiring procedure.
Education and training are very important aspects of becoming an officer and differs from each
law enforcement agency, some agencies only require a high school diploma. Additional training
and education such as an Associates or Bachelors degree is highly recommended and any
education in Criminal Justice is often preferred. This is usually needed for more advanced law

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enforcement positions, such as occupations in the FBI or Wildlife Services. Police departments
across the nation are increasing searches for more favorable candidates with college degrees.
Even before being admitted into the police academy future law enforcement officers must
pass a law enforcement entrance exam depending on the police academy and jurisdiction with a
passing score. The police academy consists of six months of training which introduces future
cops to topics such as search and seizure, criminal statues, traffic laws, driver training and
physical conditioning. Anyone hoping to join a law enforcement agency in Utah should expect to
meet requirements set by the states Peace Officer Standards and Training Council. New recruits
need to be hired by a police agency before they can attend the main POST academy. For
example, POST sets the standards for curriculum and certification for the instructors. POST also
councils several academies throughout the state. The outlook for a deputy in Utah is promising
and far higher than national average of around 5%. For new recruits the average salary of parole
officers and deputies in Utah would be around $46,000. I feel that this is a low amount of salary
for the amount of risk that each officer takes while on duty. Officers who are well educated are
more like to perform more productively on duty and under pressure compared to officers who
dont go to college.
Community colleges can provide students with multiple options who want to become a
police officer. Students can complete their degree in 2 years or a certificate of training in a few
months. Colleges allow credits earned in a certificate program to count towards their 2 year
Associates degree. I think this can make for a better officer because it can allow the cop to react
more effectively on the first encounter of their job duties. Officers would know how to handle
challenging situations under tense pressure and stressful circumstances daily. Law enforcement
academy trains the recruits for specific duties in cities and states on how to make arrests,

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physical training, tactics and first aid. Most police departments prefer the applicants to have a
degree regardless of their major. In Criminal Justice degrees students can learn about different
aspects of the law and justice system. Its a field that incorporates law, psychology, sociology and
public administration.
In my personal opinion, I think that the officers should be required to have an education.
If future recruits are pursuing an Associates degree in law enforcement they should expect to
learn about various crime types, police strategy, as well as investigating crime scenes. You can
gain such skills as knowledge of different crime types, how to produce police intelligence and
developing police strategies, as well as methods for collecting evidence from crime scenes.
Future students in a Bachelor degree program can expect to find courses pertaining to police
ethics, emergency planning, and police models. They gain future skills such as familiarity with
common sources of unethical and unprofessional police conduct, personal experience in riot
control, less than lethal use of force, as well as management techniques to most effectively
handle challenging issues. Most aspiring police officers pursue degrees in criminal justice.
Law enforcement students continuing to pursuing a Masters degree consists of 2 extra
years of schooling can expect their courses to include criminal statistics, intelligence gathering,
as well as criminal justice professional development and administration. This education can lead
to a variety of careers depending on the professional aspirations of each individual police officer.
Depending on the level of education of each person, I feel that salaries should be adjusted and
based off of prior education received other than the police academy, similar to the Army each
officer should be compensated based on salary. Police Sergeants, who are responsible for
supervising patrol officers, developing directing special units, and agents are assigned with
maintain command with the operations of a department, Sergeants usually require a bachelors

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degree in criminal justice, additional certifications, and at least 5-7 years of law enforcement
experience. Typically reports to Chief of Police, Captain or Lieutenant. Police Sergeants
typically make a median of around $75,000 per year. But, I feel that because Sergeants need law
enforcement experience and at prior education in Criminal Justice salaries should be adjusted
appropriately, along with any educational and law enforcement experience that person has
gained, along with standard benefits such as Social Security, 401(k), Healthcare and Pension.
Sheriffs, have a median annual salary ranges from $95,942-$107,786 as of November
07, 2016. Sheriffs responsibilities include police service planning, organizational management,
personnel management, community policing, and community relations. Being a Sheriff requires
a bachelors degree in criminal justice as well, and may require up to 10 years of law
enforcement experience. I believe that there are a number of factors that should form each
Chiefs salary but prior education and experience in the field are importance aspects among these
factors. Sheriffs direct others with their leadership qualities, strong judgement, and extensive
experience in the field.
Raising the minimum age to 22 and requiring that at least 60 college credits be completed
was a new and improved stance on our continually changing criminal justice system. These
requirements impact and prevent new younger applicants that hope to join the force. They must
realize that they need to adhere to other education requirements and priorities before they can
take those steps into a full-fledged member of that law enforcement career. I believe that
university-based education is a step that must be taken before police academy, that can make-orbreak the selection of moving into that learning process and choice of occupation, before the full
introduction of that law enforcement career.

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I feel that education is a very important aspect of our lives, and our outstanding officers
who maintain and protect our communities should also have university based education along
with police academy training. To expose the future officer to a different set of skills and learning
processes along with learning about the knowledge of multi-dimensional aspects of a crime and
how it impacts our society. I believe that each police agency should acknowledge the amount of
education an individual has received to that point, work with their aspirations and goals to see
what choice of occupation that individual takes. Officers undergo a transformation as they
progress into the introduction of their career in law enforcement. After leaving the academy,
rookies can be handed over to Field Training Officers and encounter their first real reality
shock about police work and who theyre viewed in the public eye. While undergoing this
transformation rookies learn the self-conception of exercising powers as an officer. Future
officers realize that police work is more related to social work than fighting crimes. From these
exposures and first encounters usually results in a new adaptation of the individuals selfconception of being a cop.
Society has strong expectations and standards that it sets for our fellow officers to adopt
along with solid police ethical standards that they must live by along with aligned personal
values and police values that each officer must adhere to. Officers are expected to be clear,
concise, and confident while also having the ability to listen, understand and effectively respond
to other in order to gain information of others motivations, and quick resolutions to challenging
situations. Officers are also generally expected to having the ability to effectively work with
people of various backgrounds, attitudes, opinions and beliefs. Furthermore, they must
demonstrate logical and sound reasoning while possessing high ethical expectations of self and

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of others. They must understand the multiple roles of each team member and the importance of
their combined effort.
It takes a strong commitment to individual responsibility to be a police officer. We
already expect so much from our officers today already, which is why I believe its important that
they each individual should have a fixed salary based on university education, police academy
training, and prior law enforcement experience. These should be factors for basing the salary for
different positions in law enforcement. Law enforcement degrees can enhance potential pay and
better advancement opportunities in a future careers this can introduce aspiring police officers to
realize their dreams. I believe that anyone hoping to pursue a career in law enforcement should
be educated both at a university and a police academy to fully take advantage of all forms of
education not just the criminal justice system. Through the process of becoming a productive
officer, they will understand first new encounters doing the occupations work, and undergo a
metamorphosis learning to adapt personal and police values with a new set of ethical principles
into their life.

Do Police Officers Need A College Education?

Sources:
(Hill)
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2014)
(Andy Henion, n.d.)
(MS, 2014)
(Salaries, n.d.)
(Sherman)
(State, n.d.)

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