COLLEGE LEVEL ENTRY REQUIREMENT - A REAL OR IMAGINED CURE-ALL

• NCJ Number: 16732
• Journal: Police Chief Volume: 41 Issue: 8 Dated: (AUGUST 1974) Pages: 28,30-31
• Author(s): J W STERLING
• Date Published: 1974
• Length: 3 pages
• Corporate Author: International Assoc of Chiefs of Police
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

BRIEF REVIEW OF THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF COLLEGE-EDUCATED POLICE OFFICERS AND A SUMMARY OF A STUDY COMPARING COLLEGE AND HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL OFFICERS AT THE BEGINNING OF THEIR TRAINING AND AFTER 18 MONTHS.

Abstract

OFFICERS WITH A COLLEGE BACKGROUND ARE SAID TO BE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT PROCEDURES AND THE ROLE OF THE POLICE, MORE ANALYTICAL, AND MORE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS. IN RESEARCH INVOLVING A COMPOSITE GROUP OF 113 POLICE RECRUITS FROM FOUR CITIES, RESPONSES TO A BATTERY OF PAPER AND PENCIL INSTRUMENTS WERE OBTAINED AT THE START OF RECRUIT SCHOOL, THE END OF THIS TRAINING, AND AFTER EIGHTEEN MONTHS OF EXPERIENCE AS A PATROLMAN. OF THIS GROUP, 37 MEN HAD ATTENDED COLLEGE, 61 HAD GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL, AND 15 HAD OBTAINED A HIGH SCHOOL EQUIVALENCY CERTIFICATE AT THE TIME THEY ENTERED POLICE SERVICE. NONE HAD UNDERTAKEN FURTHER COLLEGE WORK DURING THE TIME THE DATA WAS OBTAINED. THE FINDINGS OF THIS RESEARCH WHICH RELATED TO THE DIFFERENTIAL EFFECTS OF EDUCATION WERE OBTAINED THROUGH APPROPRIATE STATISTICAL COMPARISONS OF THE RESPONSES OF MEN WITH A COLLEGE BACKGROUND WITH THOSE OF MEN WITH ONLY A HIGH SCHOOL EDUCATION. THE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT, AS A GROUP, MEN WITH A COLLEGE BACKGROUND MAY SHOW HIGHER TURNOVER RATES THAN MEN WITH LESS FORMAL EDUCATION. THE EARLY EMERGENCE OF RELATIVELY HIGHER LEVELS OF ASPIRATION AND THE NEED TO DOMINATE MAY NOT BE SATISFIED WITHIN THE STRUCTURE OF THE TYPICAL POLICE ORGANIZATION. THE ACCEPTANCE OF A PESSIMISTIC ATTITUDE OF PRAGMATIC REALISM MAY LEAD TO EARLY DISENCHANTMENT WITH THE JOB WHILE A HEIGHTENED SENSE OF DANGER RELATED TO EVERYDAY JOB ASSIGNMENTS MAY BE A COMPELLING REASON FOR NOT CONTINUING IN THE PROFESSION. WHEN ONE CONSIDERS THAT MANY BUSINESSES REPORT THAT 'THERE IS AN AVERAGE LOSS OF HALF OF ALL COLLEGE GRADUATES WITHIN THE FIRST FIVE YEARS OF EMPLOYMENT', WE SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED IF COLLEGE MEN IN THE POLICE PROFESSION SHOW RELATIVELY HIGHER RATES OF TURNOVER THAN NONCOLLEGE MEN. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)