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OK - so they want "NYC's finest." But how does having a 4 year degree make you "finer" than anyone else when we're talking about being a police officer? They receive extensive training within the department to make these important decisions of which you speak. I can tell you right now that in college I did not learn when to pull a gun, when to judge if someone was just chillin or was about to rob a house outside of where they're standing, etc. College isn't a cure-all for everything and for certain professions, society has deemed that the most effective training (for plumbers, police officers, firefighters, electricians, etc.) is outside of a traditional 4 year college and in a technical school or on the job.
When you ask me whether I would prefer to have someone with an associate degree or a 4 year degree carrying a gun, it honestly doesn't make a difference to me given that they have successfully completed the police academy training. Two more years of college teach you how to study, write papers, and network; they don't teach you anything about life and death situations where guns are involved.
Finally, you end your post with yet another mention of their increased salary as a reason why the 4 year degree should be required. It doesn't seem like you're entirely convinced that the degree would produce a better cop; it's seems to me like a good part of the reason why you want higher standards is because the police officers somehow should meet them because a higher salary would merit them. Do they not deserve the higher pay with the current requirements? Just curious.
I grew up in a pretty nice upper middle class neighborhood. A lot of the kids there made great grades...and have now graduated with their Bachelor's. They are as dumb as a box of rocks when it comes to life though. I agree that a degree doesn't guarantee that you will be better at your job.
In fact, my first job here was at Citadel. They were looking for someone with a Bachelor's for their position. They went thru LITERALLY 20+ interviews and 5 months of trying to fill the position (as I guess they were picky) and ended pickin' lil' ol' me. A 21 year old from San Diego with no degree. WHY? Probably because I have people skills and lots of common sense. Also, the job was NOT that hard...it definitely did NOT need a degree. But I think people implement these requirements because they feel they will "weed" out some. What they don't realize is, there are PLENTY of classy people who have gone to college..and there are plenty of people, LIKE ME, that would have taken a 90k executive assistant job, for half of the pay..and done a better job at it... Because I appreciate it more and will work harder to prove myself!
Just to add one thing though...TOY COPS aka Ticket Givers do not deserve this kind of pay whatsoever. That's a waste of tax dollars. However, the rest of the police should get this raise.
Does a degree make someone a better cop? Personally I could care less if the guy walking the beat spent 4 years reading shakespeare or banging nails. Hiring should be about finding calm, rational, strong individuals who can diffuse a situation peacefully or with as little force as possible. College doesn't teach those skills.
Police work is dangerous work, plus everyone hates cops because 95% of our interaction with them is negative. I think they deserve a salary that will allow them to live a decent middle class life.
Does a degree make someone a better cop? Personally I could care less if the guy walking the beat spent 4 years reading shakespeare or banging nails. Hiring should be about finding calm, rational, strong individuals who can diffuse a situation peacefully or with as little force as possible. College doesn't teach those skills.
Police work is dangerous work, plus everyone hates cops because 95% of our interaction with them is negative. I think they deserve a salary that will allow them to live a decent middle class life.
WOW, well said. I couldn't have said it better. I'm not biased to the fact that police deserve better pay. However I do feel they should be hiring better individuals than some of the ones that they are hiring now.
i'll read shakespeare, my cousin will bang nails, my cop should know to read and write properly - even a beat cop. one can carry this discussion to its logical conclusion and speculate on whether even a high school diploma is required to nab a fleeing suspect.
here in nyc, at least, we want our cops to do more than that.
I think cops should work their way up thru superior performance, excellent academics (w/in the police academy etc.), awesome attendance and producing numbers. (As in, one area may have had X amount of crime, and when Officer XXX was on the turf for a year, X's crime has decreased X%). While college never hurts, I think a lot of people think that it's their golden ticket to not have to earn anything else.
As far as I am concerned, a police doesn't necessarily need a degree to perform a job well.
But....what about a degree in Criminal Justice or Psychology? While some police already have street smarts..this may not hurt the softies
Its as simple as this....before the minimum requirement for a cop was a HS diploma. According to some posters...who cares..why even have a HS Diploma it means nothing, guarantees nothing....we just want good training in the police force. But there is a reason we had that HS Diploma minimum rght? They then upgraded the minimum education requirement to an AA...and again I ask...why do you think they did that...if in fact...education does not matter to the force or its image? It is clear that the proper education is crucial when dealing with all that cops go through...and in 2008, I suspect that if we had just a HS Diploma (Or GED) as the minimum requirement the force would be seen as a bigger joke than it already is. The increased requirement to an AA shows the public that we expect a higher caliber candidate....and now would have been the perfect time, with the significant increase in pay rate and the recent multititude of cop assaults/scandals, to announce: NYC Cops now require 4 year degree. It would demonstrate the committment of the NYC force to attracting a high caliber candidate, one that could have easily taken their 4 year degree anywhere..but chose the NYPD. No the degree doesn't guarantee anything...but neither did the HS GED minimum all those years ago....it's about image and "type" of NYPD recruit. But hey..according to some...we should just dispel all minimum education requirements...lets fill the ranks with HS dropouts...or grammar school dropouts since education really doesn't matter right? Or is even indicative in any way of the person or necessary for the job.
It is clear that the proper education is crucial when dealing with all that cops go through...and in 2008, I suspect that if we had just a HS Diploma (Or GED) as the minimum requirement the force would be seen as a bigger joke than it already is. The increased requirement to an AA shows the public that we expect a higher caliber candidate....and now would have been the perfect time, with the significant increase in pay rate and the recent multititude of cop assaults/scandals, to announce: NYC Cops now require 4 year degree. It would demonstrate the committment of the NYC force to attracting a high caliber candidate, one that could have easily taken their 4 year degree anywhere..but chose the NYPD. No the degree doesn't guarantee anything...but neither did the HS GED minimum all those years ago.....
This is also an extremely GOOD point. I was just talking about hiring a better class of people. When I first came to this city I used to laugh at some of the cops that I saw. Not to be mean or snide..but I was thinking..are they serious? They got hired? It look slike anyone can get hired then.
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