OP-ED: Want to reduce police violence? Fund the police BETTER

For years, my best friend was a police officer. I would trust him with my life. Policing requires a level of courage I do not possess.

But sometimes, it also comes with other things that I’d like to think I don’t possess. An example of the latter was on horrific display in the death of George Floyd – so evil that it caused me to ask whether the people enforcing our laws might not actually be the best and brightest among us.

According to Christie Gardiner’s 2017 study of 958 local law enforcement agencies, 81.5% require the successful applicant to have only a high school diploma.

Pause here for a moment and remember your senior year of high school – were you mentally prepared for this sort of work?

Some departments require recruits to have a few college credits (6.6%), a two-year degree (10.5%), or, in rare instances, a four-year degree (1.3%). For the most part, the people with badges, guns, and “qualified immunity” are required to have only modest formal schooling. While many officers exceed the minimum requirements, a large number don’t.

A major concern seems to be that requiring, for instance, a college degree would shrink the available applicant pool. If enforced retroactively, it would place an overwhelming burden on officers already on the job. Unspoken concerns include the disparate impact on minorities that the requirement might have.

Is any of this true? Gardiner found that increased educational requirements wouldn’t be particularly inconvenient or costly for the serving officer. Her research indicates that almost every U.S. law enforcement officer (93.8%) has easy access to a brick-and-mortar institution that awards a two-year degree, and 83.1% have access to at least one institution that awards a four-year degree. (Online degree programs likely bring these numbers close to 100%.)

One continuing challenge is that while the nationwide college graduation rate for black students is 42% and rising, the gap between black and white remains a stubborn 20 percentage points. The good news is that five of the nation’s highest-ranked colleges and universities recently reported higher graduation rates for black students than for white. In fact, that’s not just good news; it’s great news. It shows what’s possible and illustrates a future new normal within the reach of a caring nation.

But in terms of policing, does education even matter? John Vespucci’s comprehensive study explored the association between a police officer’s educational background and the level of force he or she characteristically used to effect an arrest.

An analysis of 143 police departments across the country revealed that an officer’s academic degree and the number of college credits were inversely related to the level and the frequency of the use of force.

In other words – the more education – the less force.

Vespucci’s 2019 findings buttressed the conclusions of other scholars. Previous research indicated that college-educated officers show greater empathy, flexibility, and intelligence on the job. They also exercise greater discretion and evidence a stronger moral character. They are 40% less likely to use force of any type, verbal or physical, and 30% less likely to fire their weapon in the line of duty. These effect sizes dwarf those of studies of the efficacy of police academy and follow-on training.

Of course, it’s worth noting that while Derek Chauvin, the primary officer charged with the murder of Floyd, is a high school dropout who received an equivalency certificate, he did ultimately graduate with a degree in criminal justice from Metropolitan State College. That goes to show that the relationship between officer behavior and schooling is not 1-1.

So, what do we do? It costs more to hire people with college degrees. Are we willing to pay higher taxes? Are we willing to accept that the applicant pool for police forces might end up being whiter? Are we willing to accept that defunding law enforcement, as the mob wants, might be exactly the wrong prescription for reducing violence?

Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter, has done her homework. A diversion of funds away from policing in favor of enhanced community services has a visceral appeal.

What it doesn’t have is rigorous evidence that it can work. That’s a problem, and to pretend otherwise is to put the most vulnerable among us at risk.

As contentious as these very real trade-offs may be, there is, without a doubt, one question requiring an immediate and substantive resolution: What do we do about protecting the next Floyd from an unnecessary, cold, calculated, and horrible death? 

The future of our republic may depend on it.

Dr. Steven Papamarcos is a clinical professor at the College of William & Mary. Previously, he was a professor and dean of the Peter J. Tobin College of Business at St. John’s University in New York and the Edward L. Brown Sr. professor and dean of the business school at Norfolk State University.