New California Bill Could Require Cops To Hold A 4-Year College Degree

ABC

A brand new bill has been introduced to the California state legislature on December 7, 2020, seeking to require police officers to either hold a bachelor’s degree or be 25-years old or above before they’re allowed to join the police force.

Introduced by Democratic Assemblyman, Reggie Jones-Sawyer, the bill aims to reduce the number of unnecessary violent encounters between the police and the general public.

According to the statement given by Jones-Sawyer, “This data-driven bill relies on years of study and new understandings of brain development to ensure that only those officers capable of high-level decision-making and judgement in tense situations are entrusted with working in our communities and correctional facilities.”


The bill also highlights a 2007 study that showed evidence that police officers that had bachelor’s degrees ‘were less likely to use physical force’ than officers that hold only high school diplomas.

In California, individuals can take on the job of peace officer at the age of 18 and with a high school degree, or at least a test that’s equivalent to one.

Notably, in a number of other countries, having a college degree is actually a standard requirement for individuals that want to join the police department. But in the United States, these requirements are scarce. As a matter of fact, there are only a handful of states including North Dakota, Illinois, and New Jersey that require their state officers to have at least two years of college education.

It’s obvious that systemic violence and other problems tend to occur when younger police officers are involved. Even activists will agree that they are normally the ones that have higher issues with violence. In fact, this bill is being supported by a Los Angeles based nonprofit agency called the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC).

According to ARC’s director, Esteban Nunez, young officers tend to have underdeveloped brains. He said, “The evidence is clear – the prefrontal cortex of the brain is not fully developed until age 25. It is with similar logic that youth must be treated as youth by our criminal justice system.”

In a study published back in 2017, professor of criminal justice at the University of California, Fullerton, Dr. Christina Gardiner shared that police officers that have college educations ‘are more likely to embrace new methods of policing,’ as well as being more receptive to new department changes that are also championed and encouraged by members of the community.

A former ABC News report shared that the United States police has been criticized for their intentional selection of low-IQ applicants precisely because these individuals reportedly follow orders compliantly and without asking any questions. They also shared how there was a federal ruling back in 2000 that allowed police departments to reject applicants if they were deemed “too smart” for the job.

This ruling was made during the time when applicant Robert Jordan tried to sue the New London Police when his application to the police department was rejected due to his higher than average IQ score. Later on, the police department actually admitted that they rejected applicants that had IQ scores they considered “too high.” This decision was based on their assumption that these applicants would get “bored” with the work and leave not too long after joining the force in the first place, wasting both time and money on extensive, and not to mention expensive, training.


While additional education is always a plus, the criminal justice system is dealing with more than just the individual personal attitudes of the police officers. It would seem that until there are major systemic changes to law enforcement protocols and legal structures, the issues between the police and the public will continue to transpire.

Jones-Sawyer also told the Sacramento Bee, “This could be the beginning of changing the entire way that policing is done on the front end. Then we can let the bad cops retire on the back end.”

 

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