What is the average level of education in policing today

The task force recommended community and problem-oriented policing strategies as ways to strengthen police-community relations and better respond to crime and other social problems. Problem-oriented policing is a proactive strategy to identify crime problems in communities.

The strategy also calls for officers to analyze the underlying causes of crime, develop appropriate responses, and assess whether those responses are working. Similarly, community-oriented policing emphasizes building relationships with citizens to identify and respond to community crime problems. Research has found that when police departments use community-policing strategies, people are more satisfied with how police serve their community and view them as more legitimate.

Community policing and problem-oriented policing require problem solving and creative thinking — skills that the college experience helps develop. For example, internships and service-learning opportunities in college provide future police officers a chance to develop civic engagement skills.

It also gives them the chance to get to know the communities they will police. These officers tend to work more proactively with community members to resolve issues and prevent problems rather than only reacting to incidents when called.

Higher education has been shown to enhance the technical training that police get in the academy or on the job. For instance, as college students, aspiring or current police officers participate in internships, do community service or study abroad. All of these things have been shown to increase critical thinking , moral reasoning and openness to diversity.

College also leads to more intercultural awareness. Taken together, all of these skills are essential for successful policework. Research has also shown that police officers themselves recognize the value of a college degree. WF: Do certain types of degrees or programs lend themselves better to a career as a police officer than others? But police community relations are influenced beyond that moment of desired result, and these are things we certainly discuss with them in classes when we talk about police ethics.

But talking about the impact of use of force, the impact of policing and the interactions between police and public, those stay with the community forever. How they influence the perception of the police as a profession…these are the non-perishable skills that you start thinking about beyond just the use force. WF: What is the average profile of someone entering the police force? Where does the NYPD recruit from, for example?

MH: Depends on the jurisdiction. WF: In the s and s, a number of presidential commissions recommended that all officers obtain 4-year degrees within the next decade, in the wake of police clashes with civil rights activists.

Is there a historical precedent encouraging greater professionalism that we are still ignoring? MH: Definitely. Police officers are recruited with criminal records. The majority of recruited police officers have misdemeanor records. So if you think someone who has three misdemeanor convictions is going to be a good police officer…. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

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