Should police departments require a 4 year college degree for employment?

[JokersWild24]

I don't understand what a 4 year degree would do for a regular officer unless we make it a major ?

 

Like Clyde said that study is skewed based on raw numbers.

 

If not a 4 year college degree maybe a Technical Degree where the entire focus of study was on the profession. Hours spent in Microeconomics or college level algebra might not be the best time spent educating law enforcement officers. I'd prefer courses in case law and legal precedent over random mandatory college classes.

 

What would it hurt though?

 

It's not as if being educated is a bad thing, or that there's no value in a degree.

 

What would a microeconomics class do? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt when investigating any kind of criminal enterprise.

 

How do you expect people to understand case law and legal precedent if they aren't well rounded enough to pass a class on history that gives reasons for changes in laws or classes like sociology and psychology that explain public or organizational behavior?

 

It's not like a college's curriculum is "random mandatory" classes. There's a little more thought that's went into what you need for a degree than that.

[JokersWild24]

I think people are also really overestimating how hard it is to get a degree. It's not that hard, especially with some of the places you can get them.

 

Maybe it costs more at first, but if the statistics presented here are accurate, then maybe the savings that eventually come from less organizational waste (less effective work, more complaints, more lawsuits) would be something that helps offset more than some are realizing.

[kypride]

I hope you realize that the percentage of police officers that actually think that way are so low of a percentage that it's almost 0%.

 

And.... I hope you realize the number of police who kill someone illegally is close to zero statistically? Why not get rid of them and save as many lives as we can even if its a small number? Why not pay cops more and improve everyones safety even if its just a little bit.

[LIPTON BASH]

What would it hurt though?

 

It's not as if being educated is a bad thing, or that there's no value in a degree.

 

What would a microeconomics class do? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt when investigating any kind of criminal enterprise.

 

How do you expect people to understand case law and legal precedent if they aren't well rounded enough to pass a class on history that gives reasons for changes in laws or classes like sociology and psychology that explain public or organizational behavior?

 

It's not like a college's curriculum is "random mandatory" classes. There's a little more thought that's went into what you need for a degree than that.

 

Cops aren't prosecutors I don't expect them to know.

[Clyde]

I am still looking to see how it would make the community safer.

[Clyde]

What would it hurt though?

 

.

 

It would "hurt" because it most likely costs the communities more for IMO no real gain.

[Mustang75]

Regarding the 85% stat: What % of police officers across the country are college graduates. My assumption is that it's low so that stat might be misleading.

 

 

Same thing I was going to post.

[Mustang75]

I think the big difference is cell phones. As regard to lawsuits. People are now taking video of police stops. Watching some of the videos is amazing. The police don't know the laws... Heck police are arresting people for taking pics or video of them. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Lots of groups are going around testing the police, just to file a lawsuit.

[halfback20]

I think the big difference is cell phones. As regard to lawsuits. People are now taking video of police stops. Watching some of the videos is amazing. The police don't know the laws... Heck police are arresting people for taking pics or video of them. This is a lawsuit waiting to happen. Lots of groups are going around testing the police' date=' just to file a lawsuit.[/quote']

 

You realize that very rarely happens, right? You make it seem like police everywhere are oblivious. Most of those videos get recycled 100 times which makes it seem more frequent. And a lot of the idiots making those videos aren't all that knowledgeable of the law either. Yes they can film, no they can't interfere. Some of them cross that line. (I should say, some of the police in these videos are not the smartest either) One other thing to note about these videos is they usually do not capture the entire incident. That's most likely by design. Cop blockers want to paint a picture...They don't want the entire incident on film.

 

The best one is the idiot that tried to take his camera in a court room and Deputy P Barnes wasn't having any if it.

[Mustang75]

You realize that very rarely happens, right? You make it seem like police everywhere are oblivious. Most of those videos get recycled 100 times which makes it seem more frequent. And a lot of the idiots making those videos aren't all that knowledgeable of the law either. Yes they can film, no they can't interfere. Some of them cross that line. (I should say, some of the police in these videos are not the smartest either) One other thing to note about these videos is they usually do not capture the entire incident. That's most likely by design. Cop blockers want to paint a picture...They don't want the entire incident on film.

 

The best one is the idiot that tried to take his camera in a court room and Deputy P Barnes wasn't having any if it.

I understand it's rare. Police not knowing they can be filmed is a problem.

[Jumper_Dad]

And.... I hope you realize the number of police who kill someone illegally is close to zero statistically? Why not get rid of them and save as many lives as we can even if its a small number? Why not pay cops more and improve everyones safety even if its just a little bit.

 

I've got no problem getting rid of police officers that do that...I don't think I've said anything else.

 

I'm not sure what point your trying to make here.

[Jumper_Dad]

What would it hurt though?

 

It's not as if being educated is a bad thing, or that there's no value in a degree.

 

What would a microeconomics class do? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt when investigating any kind of criminal enterprise.

 

How do you expect people to understand case law and legal precedent if they aren't well rounded enough to pass a class on history that gives reasons for changes in laws or classes like sociology and psychology that explain public or organizational behavior?

 

It's not like a college's curriculum is "random mandatory" classes. There's a little more thought that's went into what you need for a degree than that.

 

It wouldn't hurt anything.

I used Micro-econ as an example, there are plenty of classes that we all took in college that have near zero application to not only the real world but specifically police work.

I didn't say they couldn't pass a history test but does studying the Ottoman Empire really translate to the streets of South Central LA?

 

My point is that I'd rather they be in a Forensic's class, Law class, Police Policies Class or some other class more closely tied to do the job than spending time in a Humanities Class or Economics Class...if their heart is in Law Enforcement a Technical Degree focused on Law Enforcement may make more sense that a college degree. Unfortunately those don't exist at this point.

 

Would you rather the Paramedic trying to save your life had another class in Trauma Medicine or a psychology class so they can understand you better while your bleeding to death?

[JokersWild24]

It wouldn't hurt anything.

I used Micro-econ as an example, there are plenty of classes that we all took in college that have near zero application to not only the real world but specifically police work.

I didn't say they couldn't pass a history test but does studying the Ottoman Empire really translate to the streets of South Central LA?

 

My point is that I'd rather they be in a Forensic's class, Law class, Police Policies Class or some other class more closely tied to do the job than spending time in a Humanities Class or Economics Class...if their heart is in Law Enforcement a Technical Degree focused on Law Enforcement may make more sense that a college degree. Unfortunately those don't exist at this point.

 

Would you rather the Paramedic trying to save your life had another class in Trauma Medicine or a psychology class so they can understand you better while your bleeding to death?

 

I understand that, but I'm thinking that people are overestimating the amount of general education classes that someone has to take for a degree, or at least the amount of those which don't directly apply.

[Jim Schue]

I'm sorry for all of you who don't want to hear this, but I'm really not. I feel as though our security as a people, in general, should not be left up to dolts.

[Jim Schue]

I don't understand what a 4 year degree would do for a regular officer unless we make it a major ?

 

Like Clyde said that study is skewed based on raw numbers.

 

It would keep dumb people from making life-or-death decisions. I'm of the opinion that educated people will do a better job with those difficult decisions.

 

Why is it such a bad idea to keep morons from having carte blanche for killing people?