I strongly suspect the issues you're referring to are much more an issue with attitude and mindset, rather than directly with education. I think there are probably much more efficient ways to adjust attitude and mindset than broad-based college education.
I'm glad I got a broad-based education. It was definitely the right thing for me, but I think it's a hammer being applied to too many problems that aren't roughly nail-shaped.
I think a college education is a great screening tool for determining levels of conscientiousness, ability to communicate, and ability to follow directions. All great things. My worst interactions with police officers all involved individuals that were low on these skills.
A lot of that can go out the window when they are placed in the position of power (rather than the professor) and are surrounded by existing officers. If I remember right, there are some studies about police group dynamics as a factor in the type and severity of force used (group size was positively correlated with level of force).
It's not clear to me that a bunch of psychology grads would naturally be better cops. If anything, police forces would be better investing in more internal training and apprenticeship that's actually related to policing.
Nobody said anything about what kind of degree let alone psychology
Not only does a criminal justice degree already exist but we could even introduce a new BA degree in policing with the kind of training that would result in an improved police force
People with university educations can very much abuse their power. Thinking otherwise is a liberal fantasy, much like the formerly popular meme that China would magically liberalize its political system because of globalization.
Yes? Political liberalism goes well beyond the narrow understanding that exists within the US, wherein the label has grown to be largely incoherent/redefined to mean whatever is mainstream within the Democratic Party.
Police need to be more highly trained -- I wouldn't equate that 1:1 with holding a degree.
U.S. training requirements for police are state-level matters sometimes augmented by local requirements; none of the state requirements, as I recall, are comparable to the more stringent standards required in many western European nations.
Getting some 4 year degree does not equate to 'highly educated'. College is an extension of high school for most americans, who didn't learn much there either.
>Also, many other countries require officers to have a university degree - or equivalent - before joining the police, but in the US most forces just require the equivalent of a high-school diploma
>Maria Haberfeld, professor of police science at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, says: "Some police forces in Europe have police university, where training lasts for three years - for me the standouts are Norway and Finland."
the solution is just to fire bad cops. The future bad cops will get the picture. no way to really pre screen cops other than keeping out known criminals.
