All Police Should Be Required to Complete Tertiary Education

All police should be required to have tertiary qualifications.

Why / Why not?

Tutor –

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‘You can make an academic out of a policeman but you cannot make a policeman out of an academic.’ (Rawson 1986, p 140)

The theory that the skills obtained from completing a tertiary degree will create a more knowledgeable police officer is debatable. The long lasting debate as to whether or not police officers should be required to complete a tertiary qualification is nothing new. Policing is best learnt on the job and is considered more of a craft rather than a profession. Having a degree should not be necessary in creating a better police officer because they are either going to be outstanding or they are wont be.

One reason as to why it is difficult to assume that tertiary education improves police professionalism is the obvious lack of clarity about what ‘police professionalism’ means. Chan (2003) has noted, ‘professionalism’ has become an important principle in the regulation of police behaviour that has developed alongside bureaucratic and market-style mechanisms by seeking to enhance the entry and training requirements of police work, an emphasis on political independence, accountability, and continuous improvement in terms of technological innovations.

This essay will outline a few of many reasons as to why it should not be required for police officers to complete a tertiary qualification. The first reason being that police officers should have a good understanding of their community, for example an officer may have finished a tertiary degree in another state, but if he/she does not know the community that they are employed to work at then how can they understand and build relationships with the people of that community. Secondly police officers are taught what they are required to know when becoming a first year constable. Before this they will undergo a 25-week recruit training course. This will create knowledgeable, ethical, professional and successful police officers who become motivated, responsible and are aware of the needs for their communities. If police officers are required to undergo a 4-year degree there are chances that these vital attributes may not be acquired. Finally, I will outline the importance that diversity has if police officers were required to complete a tertiary qualification, which could lead in many complications.

Firstly, it is important that officers are aware of their community surroundings, and the types of people that involved in such surroundings to make fair, just and ethical solutions to complications. Arresting or apprehending people has little, if no relevance in a tertiary qualification. Daily police operations have less to do with book work and more to do with the community in which they are serving. Policing is about maintaining effective relationships within the community, and the practicality of a tertiary qualification does not provoke this. Either an officer is going to be outstanding or they aren’t, sending out a squad of tertiary-educated officers would do no good if they can’t connect with the community.