History and Consequences of Federal Policies Concerning Higher Education for Police Officers

• NCJ Number: 78013
• Author(s): D T Stanley
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 31 pages
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report traces the history of Federal involvement in higher education for police officers throughout the 1970's and discusses the impact of Federal policies on the quality of education available to police officers and on the officers themselves.

Abstract

The history of Federal policy involvement is linked to the history of LEAA, which was established in 1968, and its predecessor, the Office of Law Enforcement Assistance, established in 1965. Both these programs provided grants to colleges and universities to develop college curricula in police science. By 1973, $40 million were appropriated for higher education for police. However, jurisdiction over programs to fund higher education for police kept moving from agency to agency. Accounting and financial management problems were paramount and resulted in payment backlogs and fiscal deficiencies. Two other programs for internships and educational development, which were established under the Omnibus Crime Control Act of 1970, suffered similar deficiencies. By the end of the 1970's, it remained uncertain whether LEAA and its educational programs were going to be continued into the 1980's. The impact of Federal policies regarding higher education for police was to spur an enormous growth of criminal justice programs in colleges all over the United States, but those programs seem to be of questionable quality. Moreover, although a survey done in 1974 found that 47 percent of line patrol officers had 1 year or more of college, as did 60 percent of line investigation officers, 59 percent of supervisors, and 42 percent of management, education is still regarded as threatening by senior police officers, as evidenced by the paucity of recruitment efforts on campus. In addition, it is impossible to state that better educated officers perform better. Continued Federal involvement in higher education for police should focus on education for management levels and should support research into the results of such education. No references are cited.