This brief presents a study addressing the impact of a college degree upon officer use of force. The average American municipal police academy only requires 26 weeks of training, despite previous studies showing overwhelming support that college educated police officers apply more discretion in their use of force than officers without a college degree. Taking into account contemporary public/police conflicts and how American perceptions of police are based largely on officer use of force, this study offers a more current perspective on the professions changing dynamic over the past decade.  

With data gathered from over 400 officers from 143 distinct municipal police agencies in 6 American states, the study examines the association between a college education and the level of force used to gain compliance during arrest situations, and notes discrepancies between previously studied factors and contextual variables. This brief will be useful for researchers of policing and for those involved with police training.

John Vespucci, PhD, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Faculty Associate at Arizona State University, School of Criminal Justice and a police officer in New York State for the past 24 years.

Introduction Chapter 1: Use of Force Defined  Chapter 2: Police Officer Training and Education 2.1 Police Officer Training 2.2 College Education in Policing  Chapter 3: The Use Of Force 3.1 Influences Affecting theUse of Force 3.2 College Education and the Use of Force Chapter 4: The Relationship Between Education and Policing Skill Sets 4.1 Professionalism 4.2 Police Lawsuits 4.3 Diversity / Acceptance 4.4 Satisfaction Ratings / Complaints 4.5 Community Policing 4.6 Conceptual Skills 4.7 Communication Skills 4.8 Complexity of Law Enforcement Chapter 5: Theoretical Framework Chapter 6: Contemporary Research            6.1 Research Design 6.2 Dependent Variables 6.3 Independent Variables 6.4 Control Variables 6.5 Sampling Strategy 6.6 Data Instrument            6.7 Data Collection            6.8 Statistical Methods            6.81 Multinomial Regression 6.82 Poisson Regression 6.9 Sample Analysis Chapter 7: Discussion and Conclusion 7.1 Limitations 7.2 Ethical Considerations 7.3 Policy Implications 7.4 Future Research 7.5 Summary