Ermina Mustafic

November 26, 2016

Prof. Don Daufenbach
Criminal Justice 1010

Higher Education for Police Officers

Whether an individual who carries a fire arm, faces dangerous situations, different types of
individuals everyday; some who have committed a crime, some who need medical attention and
some who are under the influence, should have a college degree. In my opinion this should not
even be a question. They face all different types of people with different types of backgrounds
and intentions every single day. For anyone to expect an officer who is uneducated to show up on
scene and be expected to make the right call even with the training they receive is concerning
to me. I have always been told that knowledge is power, yet the trigger seems to have the power
over our officers. I believe our officers should have a college degree because through schooling
they will gain skills required for unpredictable situations, broaden their minds as far as different
backgrounds go and will be better equipped for violent situations.
When an individual is placed on a scene where they have been called to because the others
there could not handle the situation on their own we must ask ourselves, what separates this
person we called to help between us? The average time it takes to complete the police academy
training is 19 weeks. This is where they learn the basics and then they are put into the field to
gain experience just like any other job.
If police officers were required to have a 4 year degree under their belt along with their
weapon they would have the right skills needed for the unpredictability of the job. Problem
solving skills are huge when it comes to this field. Being able to problem solve and figure out
what is going on, what to do next and to play out the outcome of the decision they are about to

make is not easy. Officers have to play out many scenarios in their head, if it plays out wrong in
their head it it could cost them their life. It takes practice and years to gain that particular mental
skill set, better-educated police officers could rely on communication and problem-solving
skills instead of force to defuse volatile criminal engagements (Holbert & Rose 2004, Kelly,
1998). Using force is easy; stepping back, analyzing the situation and defusing it with brain
power is a lot more difficult. Communication is huge, when we are placed in situations we don't
want to be in and are willing to do anything to get out of, it will take a very strong communicator
to be able to get us the message we need to hear. Since we are all human beings, every single
person deserves to have a someone help talk them out of a situation, whether they end up going
to jail or not. That message and lesson will stick with them a lot longer than a shot from a taser.
Along with problem solving, heightening how observant they are of their surroundings through
courses could potentially save their lives plus the lives of citizens as well. With so many different
things happening with multiple things happening at once at times it is important to mentally be
able to be observant of everything that is going on. Distractions are something that are a given in
this profession, with some calls that are made out to them are completely chaotic and they are to
keep their composure and stay and safe and aware of their surroundings.
With the United States being such a mixing pot and crimes being at all time highs in low
income neighborhoods, it is important that our police officers have an open mind when they are
dealing with people from different backgrounds. It is hard to understand one another if we are
closed off and judge people based off of their skin color or what country they are from, officers
without four-year degrees are more likely to generate a greater number of formal complaints
(International Journal Of Police Science & Management).This is mainly due to the ignorance an
uneducated mind holds. When we are not exposed to different types of ethnicities and

backgrounds in our everyday lives we grow to assume that we hold a title and use this ignorance
in gruesome ways. For example, there have been numerous cases of young black men who have
been shot dead that did not have a weapon on their person and this is simply because the officer
who committed the act was a white male/female who was not exposed to African Americans
growing up and thatt not the issue here. The issue is the fact that they do not continue to further
their education and to broaden their knowledge of other races. These are some of the extreme
cases, if we are talking day by day we would speak of the group of latino males that were frisked
down in NYC because they looked suspicious, this is where the hate for police stems from.
Officers being so insecure with themselves and their skill set that they feel they have to make an
arrest before a crime has even been committed. Unfortunately, due to the lack of education on
our police officers behave many of the violent crimes that do go on record could have been
handled a lot differently.
Being violent is in our nature, its something that is deep rooted and unless we know how
to properly channel our anger it comes out in vigorous ways. Courses such as psychology,
sociology, along with the other hand full of social and mental health courses are so important for
anyone going into a field where they are working in a fast paced, unpredictable environment with
other people. When we understand something we are better at facing it, whatever shape or form
it may come in. There have been so many cases where I have sat back and watched a video of
police brutality and wondered, okay, the guy is already in handcuffswhy are they still
punching him? This is where that all goes back to, deep rooted. Those individuals have more
going on than just that arrest and the issues or crime that citizen has committed.
A four-year degree for our police officers would not only benefit our public but it would
benefit them in ways they didn't think possible. For the public, we would have officers who used

communication and problem solving skills rather than violence. Police officers who didn't
assume you were an avid drug user because you lived in a low income neighborhood and police
officers who channeled their anger in positive ways; knew morally right from wrong. Now
absolutely, there would be those who were the exception and just got through school and through
all they learned out the window when they got on the job, but we would sure filter the system
pretty well.
I could see why some would say that police officers should spend more time training their
bodies more than challenging their minds. However, I do not agree with these people. Its
important to remember that you think quicker than your body can react. This meaning that if you
make the right choice in your mind it could potentially change the outcome of your life.
Hopefully within the near future it will be required for police officers to have more than a high
school degree. I believe we will see a staggering amount of benefits from it, the amount of
respect that police officers would gain would fix many problems we encounter now.

Ermina Mustafic

Work Cited
Manis, Jennifer, Carol A. Archbold, and Kimberly D. Hassell. "Exploring The Impact Of Police
Officer Education Level On Allegations Of Police Misconduct." International Journal Of Police
Science & Management 10.4 (2008): 509-523. Legal Collection. Web. 24 Nov. 2016.
Bruns Police with Degree Requirements (2010) REFLECTIONS FROM THE ONE-PERCENT
OF LOCAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS WITH MANDATORY FOUR-YEAR DEGREE
REQUIREMENTS FOR NEW HIRES: ARE THEY DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH? (n.d.): n. pag.
Web.