Study: Educated Cops Use Force Less Often

by Colin Asher · 2010-09-09 06:35:00 UTC
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Across the U.S., only 8% of police agencies require that their officers have some amount of college education. Only 1% require that they have 4-year degrees. But a new study shows that the minority of officers that do have some college education resort to using force less frequently than officers who do not have any.

The study, “The Effect of Higher Education on Police Behavior,” found that officers with some college education resort to using force 56% of the time, while officers with no college education resort to using force 68% of the time. For the purpose of the study, 'force' was defined as: verbal threats, punching, handcuffing, throwing someone to the ground, pointing or firing a gun, hitting with a baton, or using pepper spray.

One of the study's authors, William Terrill, told Miller-McCune, “Up until now, the studies have been much more anecdotal, indicating that education may matter . . . . We found that a college education significantly reduces the likelihood of force occurring. The difference is real. It truly is because the officer was more educated, not because the suspect was more resistant.”

Interestingly, in areas that allow for less discretion on the part of the officer, such as searching a suspect or making an arrest, there was no difference between college educated and non-college educated officers.

The study, published in the September issue of Police Quarterly, is likely to reinvigorate the debate over whether police departments should require recruits to have some college education before joining the force. As Miller-McCune points out, that debate has been raging sometimes-hot and sometimes-cold for more than 100 years. It's unlikely that one new study—even if it is the most authoritative to date—will settle the issue, but at least it broaches the subject again.

For my part, I say college should be required. If McDonald's requires their employees to have high school diplomas, police forces should be asking something more of their recruits.

Photo credit: SioW

Colin Asher is a former social worker and award-winning freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Boston Globe and the San Francisco Chronicle Magazine, among many others.
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