Police Chiefs’ Opinions on the Utility of a College Education for Police Officers
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 15316701 |
|---|---|
| Authors | LIZ MARIE MARCINIAK (Department of Criminal Justice, University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, Greensburg, PA, USA, corresponding author), Adam D Elattrache (Department of Criminal Justice, University of Pittsburgh-Greensburg, Greensburg, PA, USA) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 436-453 |
| Publication date | 2020-07-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Criminal Justice Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1051-1253 • E-ISSN: 1745-9117 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10511253.2020.1791352 |
| OpenAlex | W3042559680 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 28 |
This paper explores police chiefs’ opinions about the utility of a college education for police officers. Arguments for and against requiring a college degree for local police officers have been discussed in the literature for years, but mostly involve measures of officers’ performance and opinions. The data used in this study come from survey responses of a sample of 98 police chiefs in western and central parts of a mid-Atlantic state. The association of variables, such as number of officers in the department, the extent to which the department gives hiring preferences to those with more education, the department’s involvement in community policing strategies, and the chief’s level of education with the chief’s opinion about the favorability of college education for police officers is explored using regression analyses. In addition, an interaction effect between a police chief’s level of education and his or her department’s involvement in community policing on the level of a police chief’s agreement with statements favorable to having college-educated officers is tested. Policy implications are discussed, with an emphasis on how police chiefs play a role in shaping educational standards for police officers
Criminal justice · Criminal justice ethics · Criminology · Police science · Political science · Theory of criminal justice · Law · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology
Police Education, Experience, and the Use of Force
Police culture, individualism, and community policing
Police Officer Characteristics and the Likelihood of Using Deadly Force
Police use of deadly force
The Effect of Higher Education on Police Behavior
Use of force in minority communities is related to police education, age, experience, and ethnicity
The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society
Assessing the Worth of the College Degree on Self-perceived Police Performance
Cops in College
Perceived Value of Higher Education among Police Officers
Higher education and law enforcement career paths
The evolution of higher education in law enforcement
An uneasy look at college education and the police organization
An examination of the constructs underlying police performance appraisals
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2025 (2) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |