The Relationship Between Education and Policing Skill Sets

Abstract

AbstractCollege education and its benefits to policing have been studied for several decades. These studies included the effects of college education upon a broad range of police behaviors within police work. Police officers must have a myriad of special skills as they interact with the public. The skills that are most commonly studied are: the propensity to use force, professionalism, acceptance of diversity, conceptual skills, and communication skills. The responsibilities in policing grew substantially in 2001, after the first major terrorist event that then put police officers at the forefront of combating terrorism. Changes in technology, as well as technological crimes, have also added additional issues in policing, society and crime, not necessarily representative of the past. Policing and police officers are expected to overcome and effectively handle these issues in accordance with the changes in law and also changes in society as well. To compare the current effectiveness of policing to former eras is problematic because expectations and duties of officers have changed drastically. Because of this, longitudinal studies are often challenged with the vast number of changes in law and society that police officers must adapt to. Furthermore, studies often measure these skills collectively by police officer satisfaction ratings and police conduct related lawsuits, which also fluctuate in accordance with societal changes. This adds to the difficulty in analyzing the conduct of police, however researching changes in influencing factors is essential.