Split on need for police degrees

Some experts say requiring higher education means better cops, but others say it blocks good candidates

By: Shayiah Brown
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... The scene unfolds from a distance. Down the street, a police officer is sharing a laugh with someone. The weather is nice. you might assume the officer is giving directions or letting the person slide for some minor infraction.
..... What you're seeing is an arrest.
..... Ivonne Roman, who was a beat cop in the Newark Police Department before becoming police chief, was the officer in that real-life situation. Her first tactic when making an arrest, she says, is using communication skills to get folks to comply.
..... "I make jokes, I ask personal questions, if I feel there is maybe a chance of deescalating," said Roman who is now a doctoral student at Rutgers University and police relationships manager at the Center of Policing Equity. "the questioning is conversational, rather than authoritative."
..... Roman spent her entire police career slowly, furthering her education. She feels it prepares her better for every encounter with the public and keeps situations from getting out of hand. That, overall, it makes for better cops. There's evidence to back that up.
..... "College-educated officers are better, critical thinkers ... more creative problem solvers, and that's what the research suggests," said Christie Gardiner, a criminal justice professor at California State University.
..... The benefits of having college-educated police are many, advocates say, Education creates a more mature, well-rounded police officer, fostering better community relationships, and helps administrators deploy analytical skills to evaluate the effectiveness of policing practices. Degrees in areas like history and sociology, which might seem irrelevant to law enforcement can give officers insights into the conditions that beget crime.
..... Gardiner said research shows that college-educated officers use force less often than officers without a degree.
..... And if that's so, could having a better-educated police force prevent the type of violent outcomes that have roiled the nation in recent years, including, most recently, the killing of Patrick Lyoya in Michigan last month? [04/2022]

Educating cops is no 'magic' solution

..... Experts caution that education is not a panacea. It's "not like some magic key that is going to make problems goo away," Gardiner said.
..... And some warn that requiring degrees for starting officers can create barriers that lead to a less-diverse candidate pool. Less-diverse departments are associated with more use of force.
..... Kevin Lyons of the New Jersey State Policemen's Benevolent Association said the union is in favor of continuing education but does not support a mandate at the time of hire, because the cost of a college education is not equitable and, anyway, academics are not necessarily integral to good police work.
..... "the college degree doesn't give somebody more integrity, and that's what we need to be screening for," he said.

Where New Jersey stands

..... New Jersey ranks high among states when it comes to employing officers with four-year degree or better, trailing only Massachusetts, Minnesota and California. and it has the second-highest proportion of officers with master's degrees, according to a survey of 958 departments conducted by Gardiner for the National Police Foundation.
..... In 2017, 46.1% of New Jersey police officers held a four-year degree and 13.6% of its officers held a master's degree, her survey found.
..... Education and age requirements for law enforcement hiring vary by position and by municipal, county and state employed in New Jersey, said Steve Barnes, director of communication at the New Jersey Attorney General's Office.
..... The New Jersey Civil Service Commission requires only that municipal police be at least 18 years old with a high school diploma or GED, while New Jersey State Police candidates must be at least 21 years old with either a bachelor's degree or various combinations of college credits and military or work experience.
..... Local departments then require only a few months in a police academy before placing an officer on the street. Under some police contracts, officers receive an annual bonus for credits earned toward degrees in police science or criminal justice, but that incentive is not universal.
..... Nationally, just 1% of local police departments require a four-year college degree, according to a 2015 report by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, although 10% required a two-year degree.

A broadened perspective

..... Roman believes degree especially benefit top brass. Education "can help in learning how to evaluate programs to see if they do what they were intended to do, or if they have unintended outcomes," she said. "It may appear to work, but [some programs] damage relationships between police and communities."
..... Research supports that. Gardiner found that the chief's or sheriff's education level makes a significant difference in how an agency operates - the philosophy that guides the agency, the strategies it uses, the programs it implements and the policies it adopts, as stated in the study.
..... "For me personally, education broadened how i looked at things," said bergen County Sheriff Anthony Cureton, who began his police career in his hometown of Englewood. He received a master's degree at Fairleigh Dickinson. Cureton completed his academic capstone project in England, comparing policing systems there and in the U.S.
..... Captain Hector Carter of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office majored in political science at Columbia University.
..... "The benefits of education are plentiful across the board," Carter said, specifically pointing to the maturity aspect. "higher education delivers better police officers," he said.

Consideration for others

..... "The impact is not just that they obtain a higher education, but it is also the specific courses taken," said Carman Leonor Solis, a former associate professor in the NYPD Graduate leadership Program at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
..... Having some coursework that looks at the history of slavery and other systems of oppression is crucial, she said, as is learning how to "undo" racism.
....."The education has to be inclusive of all of that. Otherwise it does not add to what they will need to work in our communities, communities of color," Solis said.
..... Brian Higgins, an adjunct professor at John Jay College and former chief of police in Bergen County, has a background that focuses on understanding where other people are coming from.
..... The third-generation law enforcement officer bean his career with the Carlstadt Police Department. Before that, he attended Baptist Bible college and Seminary.
.... "If I can reach some students to influence them [I'd teach them] that this is community service, it is not just policing, that is an extension of me giving back," Higgins said.
..... "It really is going to people's homes, begin understanding, being compassionate. It wasn't as much that other stuff, like chasing people around and arresting people. That is a small percentage," Higgins said.
..... Officer Ali Huda of Ridgefield holds a master's degree from Seton Hall and once worked as a teacher. For him education is not just about being better at his job. "When you work in a department like mine, the community interacts with the police officers daily" he said. So it's important to be "a role model and a leader.

Incentivizing education for cops

..... Gardiner's research shows that most officers pursue degrees as a means of progressing up the ranks. Many departments offer tuition reimbursement and the possibility of higher pay.
..... Carter grew up in Hackensack, the son of a truck driver from Trinidad and Tobago. "Growing up, he just talked about if he had more opportunities, that was something he wanted," Carter said.
..... That is what drove Carter. He now helps make hiring decisions for the Prosecutor's Office, which does not require a college degree. "but I could tell you, we prefer someone that has at least a bachelor's degree," he said. More than 90% of officers in the office have bachelor's degree, and just under 50% have master's.

Changing minds

..... "In one class we were talking about police officers' relationship with youth," Solis said. "we were looking at the literature that talked about how youth sometimes felt intimidated by police and scared of police officers - we entered the discussion of how, when a young person gets arrested, the impact of that arrest on their life."
..... Solis said a rookie police officer in the class spoke up after this discussion. "I'm never going to arrest another young person, I am going to talk to them first," he told her.

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