Raising the bar
Investing in college-educated police, not defunding, is the right first step
The death of George Floyd was a needless tragedy that never should have happened. There’s a lot of raw emotion out there, but raw emotion should not dictate public policy. With the Minneapolis city council moving to defund and dismantle the police, we have to honestly ask ourselves is this reform or revenge?
I wonder how “community-based strategies for public safety” look when there is a school shooting with multiple victims or when someone on the 32nd floor of a hotel overlooking the Vegas Strip is firing highpowered weapons at innocent people below?
Is there racism in policing? Yes. Racism exists everywhere: in education, finance, housing, employment and in health care. People of color have been relegated to lousy schools, denied loans, given poor health care, turned away from jobs and forced into rundown, poorly maintained neighborhoods. No wonder there is anger and frustration. Every element of American life spreads the racism that causes this frustration and resentment.
I agree that police reform is necessary and long overdue, but why only the police?
So let’s reform the police on a fundamental level. Not by disarming them or defunding them, but by investing in the quality of those coming into the profession. A college education gives people the critical thinking skills, broad-based exposure to other ideas and cultures and the maturity that is necessary in today’s society.
An analysis by the International Association of Chiefs of Police of disciplinary cases in Florida from 1997 to 2002 found that officers with only a high school education were the subjects of 75% of all disciplinary actions. Officers with a fouryear degree accounted for only 11% of such actions. A 2010 study by Michigan State University also found that “a college education significantly reduces the likelihood of force occurring.” It takes a high level of maturity, wisdom and knowledge to be an effective officer today. I’m not saying that everybody with a college education is going to be a good police officer or that is the only reform needed, but it’s a necessary start.
Albuquerque had its chance at this fundamental reform over two decades ago. With community/police relations in mind in 1994, Albuquerque Police Chief Bob Stover raised the minimum educational requirement for becoming an Albuquerque police officer to 60 hours of college with a long-term goal of requiring a four-year degree by the early 2000s. That policy was killed by a short-sighted city administration in the late 1990s. We can only wonder what might have been.
How do we do this? Change the entrylevel educational requirements within a year. Make recruiting women and minorities a priority. Require those with 10 years or less in the department who do not have a four-year degree to get one, and since you’re requiring it, you have to pay for it.
Encourage those with 10 or more years in who don’t have a college degree to get one by making it a requirement for promotion. Raise the pay to make it competitive with the FBI, DEA, U.S. Marshals, Sandia Labs, Presbyterian and every other employer that seeks to attract educated professionals to their workforce. It’s going to cost a lot. But look how much we’ve paid in treasure, lives and conflict.
I’m sure there’s a lot of people who hate this idea. Those who want to defund the police don’t want them to get another dime, and I’m sure there’s plenty of officers — especially those good, dedicated officers without a degree — who find this idea insulting. We just have to accept that it’s time for fundamental change, and this is about as fundamental as you can get.
What happened to George Floyd is inexcusable, and all good cops sympathize with his family. The best way to honor the memory of George Floyd is to make fundamental changes that are substantive and meaningful, not vengeful and impractical.