Educating and training the future police officer

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, Jan, 2004 by Michael Buerger

Model 3: Course of Study, Not Major

The third option does not require institutional change on the part of academia. Instead, it places the onus on the aspiring police professional. If the field signals that it considers proof of certain skills, acquired in an academic setting, as a bona fide occupational qualification, the existing programs will make the recommendation, and the students will seek the courses themselves. Academia already gives such direction concerning second languages and accounting skills (for those who aspire to be federal investigators); it easily could do the same for clinical skills. Students will have to surmount institutional barriers, such as the unavailability of pre-requisite courses and those requiring academic major status. Nevertheless, if the field provides the signal, an impetus exists for institutional adaptation, and it well may be that this third model might ultimately turn into the first, a third-generation criminal justice major that is multidimensional.

CONCLUSION

During a coffee-break conversation at a training session, a police officer said to the author, "No offense, Doc, but I could teach the useful parts of your 4-year program in a day." His point was essentially correct if the only things that counted were the factoids students could recall 3 years after graduation. The author countered with the observation that he could fill the 4-year curriculum with war stories and the students would leave the program as ignorant as the day they arrived.

Both points were equally valid and equally off the mark. Without integration, neither formal study nor secondhand experience is an adequate preparation for the demanding tasks of police work. Experience is an important teacher, to be sure, but the old adage remains that fools can learn from their own mistakes. Wise individuals minimize their mistakes by learning from the mistakes and successes of others. Both training and education share the mandate to make such learning possible. A future in which the two endeavors complement each other can occur, but appears unlikely to happen of its own accord. A dialogue that explores the needs of the law enforcement profession and the capacities and possibilities of the academic field is needed to fuel such change; the challenges of the future should create the spark.

Endnotes

(1) The author based this article on his experiences as a police officer and academician, as well as his close association with numerous law enforcement professionals.

(2) Such a view is anathema in academic circles. Instead, the value of military service is recognized as a complementary process and as a maturing influence, but not as comparable to formal education.

(3) The author acknowledges the probability of local exceptions. It is not possible, however, to know the offerings of every program in the United States without an extensive research effort far beyond the scope of this article.

By MICHAEL BUERGER, Ph.D.

Dr. Buerger, a former police officer, is an associate professor of criminal justice at Bowling Green State University in Ohio.