NCJ Number
216829
Journal
Law and Order Volume: 54 Issue: 12 Dated: December 2006 Pages: 59-62
Date Published
December 2006
Length
4 pages
Annotation
After a review of the current status and opinions on the benefits of a criminal justice degree in the field of law enforcement, this article presents findings from an evaluative study which examined the value of a college education in the field of law enforcement.
Abstract
Results from this study illustrated that police officers, who should know best, regard modern criminal justice programs as offering quality and value for the police mission. The criminal justice degreed officers from this study overwhelmingly concluded that the criminal justice degree enhanced their abilities to engage in police administration activities. They believed that the advanced educational experience promoted skills related to communication, human relations, administration, and critical thinking. It was hoped that from these findings police managers would become more active in encouraging officers to pursue the criminal justice degree. It has long been argued that a college education is the cornerstone for professionalizing the police. Many studies conclude that college-educated officers execute duties with more proficiency and less liability, with some demonstrating better social skills in their interactions with citizens. However, prior to these studies, most police officers were of a practical mindset and required tangible evidence that the college experience was beneficial for personal and professional advancement. The benefits of a college education could not be sold with intuition or personal experience in the environments. This article presents the results of a study of sworn officers from 16 municipal police agencies across the State of Alabama. Twenty percent of the 1,114 participating officers held bachelor’s degrees in criminal justice and were assessed to determine the value attached to the degree for various police management functions. The study was conducted in two phases: Phase 1 assessed the merit of a common assumption regarding the average police officer and Phase 2 examined the value of the criminal justice degree with regard to seven distinct police-related functions.