Book - The Police in America 8 edition - Essay Example

Americas Police and their Education Scholars stress on the need for education and college degrees for law enforcement (America Police). In their argument, they emphasize that this would be a viable way to improve police attitude and their performance. However, the Committee to Review Research on Police Policy and Practices deem research by scholars as inadequate to make recommendations for higher education in police practice (Walker, 34). Nevertheless, postsecondary education would have a favorable effect on abuse of authority by police.

College education equips officers with the capability to serve citizens more ethically, morally and enduringly (McCoy, 2009). Consequently, college-educated law enforcers exhibit less abuse of their authority. On the contrary, they support compliance to the set rules and regulations of police practice. Police abuse authority of authority can take varied forms ranging from brutality, verbal attacks or legal abuse. Legal abuse refers to violation of constitutional rights of citizens, for instance, conducting a search without a warrant (illegal search).

Empirical studies offer varied kinds of explanations related to education, which include psychological, sociological and organizational factors (McCoy, 2009). Empirical research depicts police officers to be flexible, adaptive, open-minded, receptive and empathetic. College-educated officers depicted higher intelligence, greater motivation and greater self-esteem. Moreover, they portrayed greater academic excellence, efficiency in police training academy, improved assessments and appraisal ratings.

Well-educated officers score high grades in promotional examinations and were accorded more promotions. In terms of behavior on duty, these officers had lower confrontational and absenteeism rates (Steverson, 2008). Moreover, they took less sick-time off, depicted few disciplinary cases, and showed less constant complaints. In terms of service to citizens, college-educated officers recorded fewer cases of police brutality and excessive use of force (Walker, 34). In addition, insignificant portions of the population pressed charges for harassment.

In all their duties, college-educated officers received few dismissals, if any. Contrary to less-educated officers who received more disparagement from youths, college educated officers cope well with the youthful generation. Perhaps citizens accord fewer complaints to college-educated officers. Actually, locals are more expressive of pride in services offered by these officers. During operations, college-educated officers recorded more arrests. In many instances, these officers portray less inclination on arrests, as ways of reaching a resolution to incidents.

In the line of duty, there are usually cases of assault on officers (Walker, 34). Despite criticism from security analysts on inability of these officers to handle street cases, these officers in the past have recorded fewer cases of assault. In America, police officers are often ranked based on their completion rates. Owing to their prudency and intelligence in solving cases, highly educated record high completion rates. In the past, many security agencies and firms have debated on the merits and drawbacks of higher education for police officers.

Be it that your aspired job requires attaining of a college degree for hiring or promotion or not, the advantages of higher education on police service are exponential (Steverson, 2008). Well-educated officers are rational in decision-making and depict less bad attitudes toward job restrictions. High education equips police officers with the capability to handle cases while they uphold high levels of professionalism. Perhaps through college education, the work of an American officer becomes professionalized.

Work CitedMcCoy, A. W. (2009). Policing Americas empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the rise of the surveillance state. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press.Steverson, L. A. (2008). Policing in America: A reference handbook. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO.Walker, Samuel. The Police in America: An Introduction. Dubuque, Iowa: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.