NCJ Number
191396
Journal
American Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 25 Issue: 2 Dated: Spring 2001 Pages: 161-172
Editor(s)
William G. Doerner
Date Published
2001
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study determined whether or not a relationship exists between misconduct allegations and educational level in the job performance of police deputies.
Abstract
The population being studied were police deputies (n=231) from a large sheriff department located in the southern United States. Ninety percent (n=209) of the participants in the study were males. Ten percent (n=24) of the males were classified as minorities and 24 were African American. In terms of education 61 percent (n=142) had college, high school or GED diploma, 14 percent (n=32) held an associate college degree, while 25 percent (n=57) had a four-year degree. The data collected included public and internal sources. Public sources consisted of the citizens’ reports, while the internal sources consisted of policy complaints and administrative referrals. Deputies with either a high school diploma or GED had the highest number of administrative referrals and policy violations. In terms of misconduct allegations, this group also had the highest number of sustained allegations. Overall, the deputies in this category also had more difficulties in performing their duties in comparison with their more educated peers. There was no significant difference between those deputies who held associate or four-year college degrees in terms of this criterion. According to the author, if agencies want to improve service delivery to their constituents, they should add a two-year college degree requirement to their standards. Bibliography