NCJ Number
73815
Journal
Police Studies Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: (Fall 1980) Pages: 12-23
Date Published
1980
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study focused on the extent to which law enforcement administrative policy supports the attainment of higher education by entry-level police officers and chiefs of police and found few explicit requirements of college education despite the professed need for it.
Abstract
Data on short-term and long-term incentives for educational achievement were gathered from the National Manpower Survey of the Criminal Justice System and other studies of administrative practices in law enforcement. Data on the average salary for a number of municipal government officials and chiefs of police from 1965 to 1979 were examined. A professional magazine's job advertisements for the position of chief of police or director of public safety were also analyzed. Findings showed that the status of police chief executives increased in comparison to that of other municipal administrators in terms of economic reward. Nevertheless, the job advertisements showed little evidence that college education is affecting law enforcement institutions. Administrative policies in the area of selection of police officers failed to include college education as a major condition of employment. Moreover, promotion policies relied very little on the formal education of the candidate. In addition, formal requirements for college education for police administrators have not substantially increased since 1970, despite the fact that college is now mentioned more often in job advertisements. These findings are inconclusive, however, since no data on the applicants actually hired have been studied. Tabular data and footnotes which include references are provided.