NCJ Number
76427
Journal
Police Science Abstracts Volume: 8 Issue: 6 Dated: (November/December 1980) Pages: 335-341
Date Published
1980
Length
7 pages
Annotation
A study of 186 Indiana State Police (ISP) officers which attempted to assess the effect of higher education on respondent attitudes toward the ISP and its supervisory personnel found little significant differences in attitudes between police officers with or without college education.
Abstract
The most frequently suggested approach to police professionalization is a college education. It has been assumed that the more educated a police officer, the more effective and efficient he will be in performing his duty. In order to test that assumption, this study focused on police perceptions of the ISP, police officers' attitudes toward their immediate work supervisors, and on the officers' educational training. Three comparisons were made: between noncollege and college educated officers, between officers with preservice and postservice college education, and between officers with baccalaureate degrees and those without. Except for a difference observed between the baccalaureate and nonbaccalaureate respondents on the work supervisor scale, the overwhelming tendency was for the responding officers to hold similar attitudes regardless of education category. Since this study is based on one agency at one point in time, it might be useful to sample several agencies using a longitudinal design. Four references and seven tables are included.