All Police Should Be Required to Have Tertiary Qualifications. Why/why Not?

All police should be required to have tertiary qualifications. Why/why not?

1. Introduction

• HOOK: University education is an important part to gain employment and ultimately have success in a chosen career path. Police officers should be of no exception for having a university qualification.
• CLAIM: This essay argues the importance for police to have a tertiary qualification, or in this case a university qualification, before applying to enter the police force.
• PLAN: Why tertiary, or in this case university qualifications, are important for future police, the positive impacts of university education on police and the society that they help to protect and policing in the 21st century; why higher education is a must.

1. Grounds 1: Why university education for police is important.

• REASON/EVIDENCE: Stanislas (2014) says that education and training is a fundamental and significant activity in the preparation and ongoing development of the police.
• WARRANT: University education is a major part of ensuring future police officers are entering the police force with the most up to date knowledge and skills required to perform day to day duties and responsibilities.
• BACKING: Trofymowych (2007) says that clearly, educational requirements for police are varied and often specialised as police undertake many more roles and specialised functions than previously.

1. Grounds 2: Positive impacts of university education on police and the society they help to protect.

• REASON/EVIDENCE: Lersch & Kunzman (2001) note that a number of studies suggest that college-educated police officers are more open-minded and display a greater ability to deal with people from diverse cultures.
• WARRANT: University education has many positive impacts on police officers themselves and furthermore the society they are sworn to help protect.
• FURTHER REASON/EVIDENCE: Paynich (2009) says that under community- and problem-oriented policing, higher education is assumed to improve problem-solving skills and provide police with a wider range of solutions outside legal sanctions. Under models of accreditation, higher education, (alongside training), is assumed to improve actual skills involved in the daily activities of policing such as communication with the public, diffusing potentially dangerous situations, and skills necessary to effectively solve crimes or prevent them from happening.
• WARRANT: Police officers that have undertaken a higher education degree value society and culture, therefore are able to better protect society and those who are apart of it.
• BACKING:  Webb Telep (2008) comments that the educational process is not important just for the individual, but in essence, it allows society to continue, because students are taught to instil the culture and values of society.

1. Grounds 3: Policing in the 21st century; why higher education is a must.

• REASON/EVIDENCE: Stephens (2013) says there have never been more low-cost avenues for communicating with the public and employees, yet the complexity of reaching target audiences has increased dramatically. Before the Internet, email, and social media, the police had to rely on the news media as their primary way of connecting with the public.
• WARRANT: Police officers need to be up to date with the functions of policing in the 21st century, specifically how much has changed and how much will change in the ways of how crime is committed and can be prevented.
• BACKING: The Police Executive Research Forum (2014) state that police departments are far more complex than they were a generation or two ago. Though personnel are still accountable for traditional responsibilities such as calls for service and crime investigation, police have expanded their mission greatly, taking on the goals of preventing crime and reducing crime rates. Rather than focusing solely on responding to crimes after they are committed, today’s best police departments are looking for ways to be proactive as well.

1. Conclusion

1. RESTATE CLAIM: The arguments proposed in this essay outline the importance for all future police officers to have a university qualification before applying to enter the police force.  
2. SUMMARY: Why tertiary, or in this case university qualifications, are important for future police, the positive impacts of university education on police and the society that they help to protect and policing in the 21st century; why higher education is a must.

References

Lersch, K., & Kunzman, L. (2001). Misconduct allegations and higher education in a southern sheriff’s department. American Journal Of Criminal Justice, 25(2), 161-172. Retrieved from http://A number of studies suggest that college-educated police officers are more open-minded and display a greater ability to deal with people from diverse cultures.

Paynich, R. (2009). he Impact of a College-Educated Police Force: A review of the literature (1st ed., p. 11). Massachusetts. Retrieved from https://www.masschiefs.org/files-downloads/hot-topics/96-the-impact-of-higher-education-in-law-enforcement-feb-2009-and-summarypdf/file