Cops Who Are College-Educated Are Less 'Trigger-Happy'

The police force in America has been under a bit of scrutiny from the news of recent events. 

Now, a new study shows that college-educated policemen may be less likely to use force on citizens or be "trigger-happy." However, they are also more likely to have a negative view of their supervisor and less likely to favor community policing.

"Our latest results on police views might lead one to question whether a college education is beneficial for officers," co-author William Terrill, a Michigan State University criminologist and professor in MSU's School of Criminal Justice, said in a news release. "But our research is a mixed bag, and you have to take into account the behavioral effect as well. If you use less force on individuals, your police department is going to be viewed as more legitimate and trustworthy and you're not going to have all the protests we're having across the country."

For the study, researchers used data from 2,109 police officers in seven mid-sized to large police departments across the United States. They noted that 45 percent of the participants had a degree with half majoring in criminal justice. Furthermore, the study showed that the type of degree did not affect negative views on job satisfaction or management.

The study results  further revealed that college-educated cops are less satisfied with their job overall because of the work they're doing. Oftentimes, they are stuck with patrolling high-crime areas at night.

"We're throwing the least experienced officers into the most difficult situations simply because of their lack of seniority," he said. "It's like taking someone right out of medical school and asking them to perform heart surgery."

The findings could be potentially important when it comes to modern policing and the concept of social work via the job instead of law enforcement, alone.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via the Journal of Criminal Justice Education.