Essay on Social Connotations of Name and Well Being

Introduction Imagine that you are of Arab decent you are being screened more thoroughly than others at the airport. The only way the airport staff can identify that you are of Arab decent is based on your family name, Najjar. The airport staff constantly takes extra measures to confirm that you are not a terrorist. Stereotypes have existed in American culture for centuries. Early in American history stereotypes of Negroes and Mexicans predominately associate them with lower-class attributes (Campbell, 1967). Major social events can have an effect on how certain groups and assemblies of individuals are perceived. On September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers associated with al-Qaeda brutally murdered hundreds of American citizens. The†¦show more content†¦It is expected that individuals with a high association of discrimination will have higher levels of depression, acute smoking, higher body mass index, and number of endocrine conditions. This research will examine the general perceptions of participants based on the social connotations associated with their name and how it could affect their well-being. It is projected that those individuals with excessive amounts of discrimination and stereotyping will also have a larger number cardiovascular risk factors as well as psychological abnormalities. Literature Review and Purpose Racism and the Workplace Racism can be thought of as a superiority complex, in that some ethnicities are better or more superior to others (Bhopal, 2004). This complex is used to construct and validate actions that will build and maintain many constructs of discrimination and disproportion. Racial inequality and discrimination is ingrained in racism, it is a direct echo suffered by the minority individuals in a prejudiced society. One key factor when exploring how stereotyped individuals that have been victims of discrimination counter-act to stressors such as ethnic slurs, supremacy and other acts of environmental racism is whether or not they are affected contrarily. The Journal of Critical Public Health provides a more abstractedShow MoreRelatedThis is a presentation on Diction and Syntax for Charles Dickenss Great Expectations. Chapters 1-81450 Words   |  6 Pagesnewborn, or new, while tongue means the organ the human body uses when it speaks. Connotations- What Dickens could try to mean in this small passage is that he doesnt have the mastery that he should have over his tongue because he is very young and doesnt know much about the world. Simple Sentence Declarative Sentence It relates to the theme of social class, because Pip is a poor young boy at the time. Being a from the poor class, he doesnt know how to talk in the dignified matter that theRead MoreDeconstructing an Advertisement1082 Words   |  4 Pagesadvertisement? (modality words, mood/tone) (voice used active) 2.what colours have been used in the advertisement? 3.What body language/gestures/facial expressions are being used between characters of advertisement? 4.Who is the intended audience? How do we know this? 7.What is the denotation of the advertisement? 8.What is the connotation can we infer from the advertisement? 9.what discourses are present? (need to include bias) 10.What presentation have been communicated? 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Job Experience At College Graduates - 1443 Words

Obtaining a job in today’s society may seem difficult due to the ever increasing population of college graduates promoting a healthy dose of competition, yet it will come naturally if one has prior experience before obtaining a full-time job. In my current stage of being a senior without any job experience before graduating will prove to be tough to find a company willing to hire someone as such. Almost all of my friends have some sort of job experience both in either industry or in jobs not related to engineering. I on the other hand privately do have job experience, but this is through a small family business manufacturing custom window treatments. Ever since I was a young child, many professors told me to not cite family as a credible source of job experience. I assumed this was said in order to prevent those that simply place inane job titles on their resume when they in fact worked or observed only five minutes of the job. My job was to assist my father in the manufacturi ng of curtains, pillows and roman shades; occasionally installing the drapes in the client’s home with the profits going towards the family. Money going towards my family’s funds has led to me not have to file any taxes and â€Å"whatnot†. Where â€Å"whatnot† is the miscellaneous papers that I am not aware of in my current knowledge that’s usually seen if one had a job. I have attempted to place my work experience onto my resume as the section labeled â€Å"work experience† is left blank, but the starting date lookedShow MoreRelatedWhy Bother Pursuing Higher Education?1630 Words   |  7 Pagesto seek a higher education in college or start working. For most people, the key to education is to equip young adults with the ability to survive and to make a standard living in the future. 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1% of Local Police Departments Free Essays

Reflections from the One-Percent of Local Police Departments with Mandatory Four-Year Degree Requirements For New Hires: Are They Diamonds in the Rough? Diana Bruns Bacone College ***Contact information Diana Bruns, Ph. D. Department Chairperson and Professor, Criminal Justice Studies Bacone College 2299 Old Bacone Road Muskogee, OK 74403 brunsd@bacone. We will write a custom essay sample on 1% of Local Police Departments or any similar topic only for you Order Now edu cell: 918-781-7295 office: 918-781-7295 **Diana Bruns is the Department Chairperson and Professor of Criminal Justice Studies at Bacone College in Muskogee, OK. Reflections from the One-Percent of Local Police Departments with Mandatory Four-Year Degree Requirements For New Hires: Are They Diamonds in the Rough? Abstract Countless studies have permeated the literature regarding the utility of a bachelor’s degree for police officers. Local law enforcement agencies with mandatory four-year degree requirements serve as the population for this study relative to the current status of college degreed officers, as well as population demographics and commonalities among such departments. The utility of college degree requirements, choice of academic discipline and why four-year degree requirements nationwide are merely a preference, not a standard mandatory hiring requirement is discussed. Current minimum educational requirements for local and state police agencies and implications for the future of the college-degreed officers are explored. Hiring college-educated candidates in the law enforcement field does not guarantee they will be good officers. Being a police officer is hard and to be successful, you have to want to be a police officer. Individuals who receive the required degree in law enforcement have demonstrated their desire. Desire is something very hard to evaluate, but such an important trait. If all other qualities are equal—the college graduate with a four-year degree in criminal justice or related field should be hired as police officers before one who doesn’t have the degree. Police Chief from department with mandatory degree requirement Introduction and Background The relevance of a college degree for police officers has been debated for decades. Numerous studies have been conducted regarding the importance of the degreed officer, while others have described how a college degree is not an essential or important ingredient for success among police officers. That precise debate—the worth of the bachelor’s degree for police officers is not the focus of this endeavor. The focus here is central to three vital panels’ recommendations from 1967-1974 proclaiming that police officers obtain baccalaureate degree—the President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice, the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, and the American Bar Association Project on Standards for Criminal Justice—and why so few local and state police departments have followed suit in requiring that police officers hold baccalaureate degrees, as less than 1% of such departments require a four-year degree (Hickman and Reeves, 2006). It is evident that leaders in law enforcement are hesitant to embrace the educational movement. Roberg and Bonn (2004) reiterated the nearly nonexistent numbers of police departments requiring degrees. Although leaders in law enforcement continue to hesitate the implementation of educational requirements (Carlan, 2007; Roberg and Bonn, 2004; Breci, 1997;Remington, 1990), recruitment for college graduates continues to increase. Carlan (2007) examined the worth of the criminal justice degree as valued by police officers and found that In this study, police officers (n=299) with varying levels of experience and riminal justice education revealed positive attitudes concerning the degree’s value with regard to conceptual development for employment purposes. The positive assertions in this study reflect well on the ability of criminal justice programs to prepare its clientele for meaningful employment challenges (p. 616). Johnston, Cheurprakobkit, and McKenzie (2002) revealed that l aw enforcement administrators stressed that the role of education should place importance in aiding police officers with knowledge of the legal aspects of policing as well as report writing, ethics, and procedures. The President’s Commission (1967) reported that without higher educational requirements, quality in police services could not be achieved or attained. However, over forty years later, in 2009, although most police agencies do report that they prefer a college-degreed officer, the majority of police agencies (local, state and special jurisdiction) do not require anything more than a high school diploma or equivalent. Upon reviewing 36 departments that require a four-year degree, this exploratory analysis attempts to reveal and explore the reasoning behind the small number of police departments actually requiring the degree. Results of this analysis will describe the departments with four-year mandatory degree requirements and characteristics of such departments will include opinions of police chiefs regarding why a college degree is important to police. Qualitative explanations will yield information regarding how explemplary practices of a few departments should serve as role models and guides for departments across the nation in the one-hundred year quest to professionalize the policing field. As the literature suggests, police administrators do prefer police officers to hold a baccalaureate degree, but do not require it. Verrill (2007) called for the need to determine why the select one-percent of local police departments who require the degree actually do so. This study attempts to answer that question. As stated previously, debates pertaining to the usefulness and value of a college degree for police officers have been commonplace in criminal justice literature for decades. However, at the outset, it is unclear how many police departments actually require a four-year degree and the location of such departments. This lack of clarity is further exemplified by ncertainty as to how many police officers and police agencies there actually are the in U. S. , leads to difficulty in counting police agencies (Maguire, Snipes, Uchida, and Townsend, 1998). Whatever the case, we can be assured that few police agencies (non-federal) actually require a bachelor’s degree. Is the Type of Degree Important? Verrill (2007) described the sparse amount of literature concerning the advantage or worth of a bachelor ’s degree in criminal justice and whether criminal justice employers give preferentiality to vocational over theoretical degrees or vice versa. Verrill’s study reviewed entry-level educational requirements for criminal justice agencies in Florida, where only two local police departments out of N=261 sampled required a bachelor’s degree. Realistically, Verrill’s sample is indicative of local police departments nationwide, as less than one-percent require a bachelor’s degree as a prerequisite for employment. It is unclear at this point, from the literature, whether those one-percent of police departments who require four-year degrees specify which discipline they prefer. This analysis reveals striking information regarding the few police departments that require the degree and their preferences regarding the discipline as well as if they prefer that police candidates have degrees pertaining to either vocational or theoretical orientations. Bostrom (2005) addressed differences in levels of performance and work habits among officers who had obtained Bachelor of Arts degrees and Bachelor of Science degrees, finding that officers with Bachelor of Arts degrees have better work habits (measured by sick time usage, traffic collisions, discipline) than officers with a Bachelor of Science degree. Although results were detailed with caution, as this was an exploratory study at one large police department, Bostrom called for future research in this area. Schafer and Castellano (2005) attempted to extricate the relationships that subsist among work experience, educational background and attitudes toward criminal justice education, once again finding, â€Å"the quality of police service will not significantly improve until higher educational requirements are established for its personnel† (p. 300). Research Questions 1. What is currently known about educational requirements for local and state police departments/agencies? 2. How many police departments (local) have a four-year degree requirement and where are those departments? Who makes up the one-percent of police departments that the literature refers to as requiring four-year degrees? What is the range in size of police departments that have the four-year degree requirement? Are they large departments or small departments? 3. How many departments that have the four-year degree requirement will waive the requirement, and under what conditions can the educational requirement be waived? 4. What are the education levels of chiefs of police in departments that have a four-year degree requirement? . What are the mean starting salaries for the departments that require a four-year degree? Are the starting salaries for police officers in police departments with four-year degree requirements higher than salaries for police officers in departments without four-year degree requirements? 6. Do police chiefs in departments with four-year degree requirements prefer that officers have a degree in criminal justice? 7. Do police chiefs in departments with four-year degree requirements have a preference of vocational (hands-on) orientation rather than an academic (theoretical) orientation? . Have applicant pools increased, decreased or stayed the same since their four-year degree requirement was mandated? 9. Do the police chiefs believe the degree requirement will change in time, or will it remain a mandate, with no exceptions? 10. Regarding police departments with the four-year degree requirement, why does their respective department require a four-year degree? 11. Regarding police departments with the four-year degree requirement, why do police chiefs believe so few departments across the nation actually require the degree? Current Knowledge About Educational Requirements for US Police Departments According to the U. S. Department of Justice (2004), there are 12,766 local police departments with 3,067 sheriff’s offices, 49 primary state law enforcement agencies, 1,481 special jurisdiction agencies, and 513 ‘other’ agencies totally 17,876 law enforcement agencies. As of 2003, in a sample of 3000 police departments, 98% of local police departments had an educational requirement for new recruits; 18% had ‘some type’ of college requirement; ine percent required a two-year degree and less than one-percent required a four-year degree (Hickman and Reaves, 2006). Another source, The International Association for Chiefs of Police (2008) announced that 16% of state police agencies require a two-year degree, while four-percent require a four-year degree; 13% of county police agencies require a two-year degree and an unknown percentage of county police agencies require a four-year d egree. Nine percent of local police departments require a two-year degree and two-percent require a four-year degree. However, it was unclear the name and location of the departments that required a two or a four-year degree. Furthermore, it is unclear as to where that two-percent was derived. Overall, scarce information is available regarding which departments require a two or a four-year degree. By searching state police agency and state highway patrol websites, it is evident that only three state police departments require officers to hold four-year degrees—Illinois State Police, New Jersey State Police, and North Dakota Highway Patrol. All three agencies, however, will waive educational requirements. Regarding the New Jersey State Police’s minimum qualifications, An applicant must have (1) a bachelor’s degree, signifying completion of the undergraduate curriculum and graduation from an accredited college or university or, (2) alternatively, an associate’s degree or have complete 60 college credits from an accredited college or university, plus at least two years of satisfactory employment, or (3) alternately, have completed 30 college credits from an accredited college or university, plus at least two years of active duty military service with an honorable discharge (http://www. jsp. org/recruit/qual. html). The Illinois State Police has the following minimum educational requirement: Option 1). An Associate of Arts Degree or equivalent coursework and must meet one of the following two job experience requirements: Three consecutive years of continuous, full-time service as a police officer, with the same police agency or three consecutive years of active milit ary duty. Option 2). An Associate Degree of Science or equivalent coursework and meet one of the following two job experience requirements: three onsecutive years of continuous, full-time service, as a police officer, with the same agency or three consecutive years of active military duty. Option 3). An Associate of Applied Science Degree, only if the degree is in Law Enforcement/Criminal Justice and meet one of the following two job experience requirements: Three consecutive years of continuous, full-time service as a police officer, with the same agency, or three consecutive years of active military duty. Option 4). A Bachelor’s Degree (https://www. illinoisstatetrooper. om/requiremnents. html). Lastly, North Dakota Highway Patrol’s minimum educational requirements are: An Associate degree with two years of work-related experience or a Bachelor’s degree (http://nd. gov/ndhp/employment/qualifications. html). Upon review of each state police or state highway pat rol website, the following requirements by state were revealed: presently, ten states require an Associate’s Degree or 60 hours of college credit (PA, TX, KY, MN, MO, OK, DE, CN, WI, LA). The remaining states require a high school diploma or equivalent. However, one state– Nevada, stipulates no educational requirement. Out of the 100 largest cities in the United States, only four police departments require a four-year degree (Jacksonville, FL, Arlington, TX. , St. Paul, MN, and Tulsa, OK). Upon looking at the 100 largest police departments in the United States by number of sworn officers (list provided by the Police Executive Research Forum), only 3 of the largest police departments require a four-year degree (New Jersey State Police, Illinois State Police, and Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office). After reviewing each of the 100 largest cities websites, it was determined that 67% of such departments require a police officers to have a high school diploma or equivalent; 6% require a high school diploma plus 12 hours college credit; 4% require between 30-40 hours of college credit, 19% require an Associate’s degree or 60 hours of college credit, with 4% requiring a four-year degree. Again after searching agency websites regarding career opportunities, the percentages were similar upon reviewing the largest 100 departments by number of sworn officers: 68% required a high school diploma or equivalent; 4% required a high school diploma or equivalent plus 12 hours of college credit; 4% required between 30-54 hours of college credits; 21% required an Associate’s degree of 60 hours of college credit, and 3% of the 100 largest police departments (by number of sworn officers) currently require a four-year degree. Once again, even the few that require the degree; the majority will waive the requirement, with certain stipulation—which will be discussed. To estimate whether or not the one-percent of police departments with degree requirements were actually large or small departments necessitated reviewing the LEMAS report (2003), concluding that Seventy-four percent (74%) of all local police departments served fewer than 10,000 residents, these agencies employed just 14% of all offices. About half of all officers served a jurisdiction with 100,000 or more residents. While departments serving the largest cities had thousands of officers on average, those serving fewer than 2,500 residents have an average of just four full-time employees, including three sworn officers. The Arguments: Pros and Cons of the College-Educated Police Officer The idea surrounding the purpose of college-educated officers has stemmed from two sources: the alleged importance of professionalism for the police force and to change officer attitudes (Shernock, 1992). Friedmann (2006) made an excellent point, When police officers try to do their job today without a degree, their already difficult task is made more difficult. However, chiefs who mandate the degree requirement should be aware that the transition period—where the police department does not already have a clear majority of officers with degrees—could be difficult. Police officers sometimes resist higher education requirements. Despite this resistance, police officers need higher education for the good of the profession† (p. 23). Chief of Police Hawkins (2006) reiterated his department’s four-year requirement in Burnsville, MN. , Burnsville’s four-year degree requirement helps recruit big-picture thinkers who are creative, culturally aware, and technically sound in constitutional law, and who look for the best solution to the multitudes of challenges they encounter. An officer’s well-rounded background enhances his or her ability and desire to partner with community members, use the vast resources both the residents and business owners possess, and make them part of the problem-solving process. The synergy created between the community and the officers is the basis foundation of Burnsville’s community policing efforts. Friedman, 2006, p. 28). As the debate over the need for an educated police officers has demonstrated contradictory evidence concerning college educated police officers—meaning that although many studies are supportive that officers need a college education, there is also conflicting evidence. Baro and Burlingame (1999) disputed recommendations that officers need a ba ccalaureate degree to increase levels of police professionalism, stating that officers need no more than a high school diploma or equivalency. Sherman and McLeod (1979) speculated that higher education for officers may be irrelevant because the education officers receive in higher educational institutions is quite similar to training officers receive in police academies. Critics of higher educations believe the â€Å"college-educated officers are more likely to become frustrated with their work, with restrictions imposed by supervisors, and with limited opportunities for advancement† (Worden, 1990, p. 567). Hudzick (1978) found that officers with an education place less value on obedience to supervisors and are less satisfied with their careers. Other are concerned that â€Å"college-educated officers will quickly tire of the irregular hours, constant pressures, and relative low pay of policing† (Varricchio, 1988, p. 11). Whetstone (2000) acknowledged that, â€Å"hiring candidates with improved credentials also invites eventual problems such as greater job dissatisfaction and personnel turnover† (p. 247). Kakar (1998) further demonstrated that a college education might decrease officer’s quality of service because police work does not offer opportunities to stimulate the college-educated mind. Furthermore, because police performance measures differ in studies, no real consensus exists on exactly how police performance should be defined and measured. Carter and Sapp (1990) indicated that regardless of degree requirements, 23% of police officers had obtained a four-year degree and 65% of police officers had at least one year of college. Peterson (2001) gave somewhat higher estimates, in that 30% of police officers sampled from ten medium-sized departments in the Midwest had four-year degrees. Mayo (2006) estimates between 25-30% of police officers have a four-year degree, which realistically nearly mirrors the percentage of U. S. population over age 25 who have obtained a bachelor’s degree. According to the US Census Bureau (2005) 28% of the US population over the age of 25 has obtained a bachelor’s degree, which is an all-time high. Common sense dictates that those percentages of police officers with four-year degrees are representative of the education levels of the communities they serve, if we utilize such figures and that line of reasoning. However, the small number of departments requiring degrees necessitates attention to raise awareness to the fact that less than 100 police departments, including special jurisdiction police, state police, county and local police departments mandate degrees, and whether this will change in the future. Little information exists regarding the 1% of police departments that require the four-year degree. Mayo (2006) revealed several case studies of departments with four-year degrees regarding the question of the degree and its importance to the sites’ organizational success in the communities they serve. One of the departments that was highlighted, the Dover Police Department in N. J. , which is now the Toms River Police Department, has changed its language to relax its mandatory four-year requirement, the current ordinance: requires candidates to possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or, the candidate must possess a minimum of 64 college credits combined with two (2) full years of military experience or full time work experience (http://www. rpolice. org/Recruitment. html). Other than a list of departments that require four-year degrees recently made available on-line by the Police Association for College Education, no other list is available to reveal the one-percent of police agencies that require the four-year degree. Unfortunately, many of the departments listed on that site that have a four-year degree requirement no longer have the requirement, but have relaxed it or waived it all together. After contacting all of the departments by email or phone, the following departments on PACE’s list no longer require a four-year degree: Vallejo, CA. ; Boulder, CO. ; Peach Tree, GA. ; Holden, MA. ; St. Cloud, MN. ; Eagan City, MN. ; Borough of Gettysburg, PA. ; Edinboro, PA. ; Appleton, WI. ; Flint, MI. ; Milford, MI. ; Montvale, NJ. ; University Park, TX; Whitefish Bay, WI; and Upper Moreland, NJ. The Chief of Police, Thomas Nestle, III. , of Upper Moreland, NJ, responded via email that Upper Moreland only requires 60 hours of college credit. Nestel (2009) offered his opinion, via email, as to why the degree requirements was relaxed at his department, The applicant pool that is suited for this position frequently does not possess the educational pedigree you describe (a four-year degree). Law enforcement tends to draw military veterans and sons/daughters of existing officers. Neither group has a high rate of college graduates. Recruiting on college campuses has proven to be very unsuccessful. Policing doesn’t seem to be an appealing direction for the college graduate. In recent years, other departments (Memphis, TN, Plano, TX, Portland, OR) once known to have had a four-year degree requirement, further made national headlines regarding the choice to relax their respective educational requirement. Interestingly, many other police departments were found that were not included in the Police Association for College Education’s (PACE) list regarding police departments that require four-year degrees as of 2006. A massive Internet search was undertaken to locate local police departments that currently require a four-year degree for new patrol officers. Additionally, numerous contacts via telephone to police chiefs and recruits were attempted to uncover additional police departments with four-year degree requirements. However, most of those attempts were unsuccessful for little knowledge exists as to whom the police departments requiring four-year degrees actually were in the U. S. Therefore, it was necessary to rely on departmental websites in attempts to discover who indeed mandated the baccalaureate degree requirement. Problematically, many departmental websites lacked clarity regarding educational requirements. Therefore, if relevant information could not be obtained via websites, many telephone contacts to police departments led to the discovery of 60 local police departments, including local police departments and county sheriff offices that require a four-year degree for police officers. However, there are several special jurisdiction police agencies that also require officers to hold a baccalaureate degree and will not waive educational requirements, including the Missouri Department of Conservation (law enforcement) and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. However, special jurisdiction police agency degree requirements are not the focus of this analysis. Sixty police agencies (local and county) were unearthed to indeed have the requirement–Illinois has the greatest number of police departments requiring a four-year degree, with eleven; New Jersey has seven; Ohio has eight; Pennsylvania has six; Michigan has 5; Texas has four; Wisconsin has 4; Colorado has 3; South Carolina has 2; Florida has 2; Minnesota has 2; Oregon, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, and Missouri each have one local police department that has a four-year degree requirement. Special jurisdiction police agencies aside, caution however, that of those 60 police departments, only 37 will not waive or relax their educational requirements for any exception. Therefore, there are 37 local police departments that will not waive their educational requirements on any grounds. Table 1 contains the 37 local departments that will not waive educational requirements. Population size, gathered from Sperling’s Best Places (www. bestplaces. net) follow to demonstrate the size of each city in which the respective department is located. Regarding county police departments, population size was not included. Table 1 Note: N=37. This may not be the complete list. However, no other such list is available. Simple computations reveal the Mean for the population size of local police departments with mandatory degree requirements is (X=61,911), with the Median (MD=31,891). Due to the reality that there are so few local police departments mandating degrees, it is relevant to include examples of specific educational requirements for such departments regarding their policy regarding mandatory four-year degree education requirements in Table 2. Local Police Departments Requiring Four-Year Degrees, No Exceptions Police DepartmentLocationPopulation Size Arvada Police DepartmentCO104,838 Arlington Police DepartmentTX367,197 Bethel Park Police Department PA 31,891 Bloomfield Township Police Department MI 65,796 Canfield Police Department OH 7,061 Centerville Police Department OH 23,046 Cleveland Heights Police Department OH 47,097 Deer Park Police Department TX 29,748 Burnsville Police Department MN 59,321 Eatontown Police Department NJ 14,022 Elgin Police Department IL 98,846 Gaston County Police Department NC Flint Township Police Department MI 32,753 Green Tree Borough Police Department PA 4,396 Lakewood Police DepartmentCO140,024 Leonia Police DepartmentNJ 8,799 Mahwah Police DepartmentNJ 24,560 Middleburg Heights Police DepartmentOH 15,237 Mt. Lebanon Police DepartmentPA 5,481 Multnomah County Sheriff’s DepartmentOR Naperville Police DepartmentIL140,633 Norton Shores Police DepartmentMI 23,429 Novi Police DepartmentMI 52,621 Owasso Police DepartmentMI 15,388 Palatine Police DepartmentIL 66,596 Platteville Police DepartmentWI 9,748 Pueblo Police DepartmentCO103,730 Peters Township Police DepartmentPA 4,683 Richmond Heights Police DepartmentMO 9,228 Schaumburg Police DepartmentIL 73,890 Smithfield Police DepartmentRI 21,863 South Park Township Police DepartmentPA 14,647 Strongsville Police DepartmentOH 43,347 Sugar Land Police DepartmentTX 79,943 Tulsa Police DepartmentOK385,486 Wheaton Police Department IL 54,611 Wilmette Police Department IL 26,737 Table 2 Examples of Educational Specification Per Department That Have Mandatory Four-year Degree Requirements PoliceEducational Requirement Specification Department Arvada PDâ€Å"Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university (final semester seniors are eligible). This requirement will not be waived for any reason† (http://arvadapd. org/join-our-team/requirements/. html). Arlington PDâ€Å"Possess a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university. Education is not waived for prior military service or prior experience† http://www. rlingtonpd. org/index. asp? nextpg=recruiting/require. asp). Centerville PDâ€Å"Bachelor’s Degree Required† (http://ci. centerville. oh. us/index. php? option=com). Deer Park PDâ€Å"Bachelor’s degree by hire date† (http://www. ci. deer-park. tx. us/department/index. php? fDD=15-0 Eatontown PDâ€Å"Effective September 1, 2008, applicant mus t have a bachelor’s degree, signifying completion of the undergraduate curriculum and graduation from an accredited college or university† (http://www. nj. com/police/careers. html). Lakewood PDâ€Å"Bachelor’s degree in any discipline—no exceptions† (http://www. ci. lakewood. co. us/index. cfmp). Tulsa PDâ€Å"Applicants must have completed a Bachelor’s degree with a C+ average or better at an accredited college. No military hours or credits are acceptable unless they are received from or converted through an accredited college† (http:/www. tulsapd. ord/recruiting/requirements. htm Note. This is not an exhaustive list. Examples of Specific Educational Requirements Per Departments Regarding Mandatory Four-Year Degree Education Requirement, With Waiver Exceptions As stated previously, only 37 local police departments require a four-year degree with no exceptions allowed. However, 23 other local police departments require a four-year degree, but will waive the requirements with certain exceptions, as do the Illinois State Police and the New Jersey State Police. Therefore, those 23 departments with similar wording or language embedded in their respective specific job requirements or career opportunities containing ‘require a four-year degree, but will relax requirements,’ will be included in departments that require four-year degrees. The Toms River Police Department provides a good example of ‘waiver exceptions,’ The current ordinance requires candidates to possess a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university or the candidate must possess a minimum of 64 college credits combined with two (2) full years of military experience or full-time regular police experience† (http://www. trpolice. org/Recruitment. html). Other specific examples of police department requirements with waivers include: Charleston Police Department, Bachelor’s degree and above or Associate degree with four years of prior law enforcement experience or military experience† (http:www. charlestoncity. info/dept/content. aspx? nid=817cid=9931). Coral Springs Police Department’s requirements are similar, â€Å"Applicant must possess: A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or (4) years law enforcement experience and at least 60 credits from an accredited college, or (4) year s military experience and at least 60 credits from an accredited college† (http://www. theblueline. com/feature/Flcoralsprings. html). Other examples include: 1. Highland Park Police Department â€Å"Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university—consideration may be given for applicants who possess at least 60 credit hours† (http://www. hptxorg/index. aspx? page=233). 2. Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office â€Å"Must possess a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or possess an accredited Associate’s degree or equivalent (60 semester hours/90 quarter hours) with four (4) years prior active military or law enforcement experience or possess 90 semester/135 quarter hours with two (2) years prior active military or law enforcement experience† http:www. coj. net/Departments/Sheriffs+Office/About+ the+JSO/default. htm). 3. Livonia Police Department â€Å"Have been awarded an Associate Degree in Law Enforcement or Public Administration or a Bachelor Degree in any non-Criminal Justice discipline† (http://www. ci. livonia. mi. us/default. asp? area2=departments%2Fcivil+service) 4. O sh Kosh Police Department â€Å"Associate degree—In Criminal Justice/Police Science; Bachelor degree—in any field† (https://wilenet. org/html/employment/showopportunities. jsp). 5. Tinley Park Police Department All applicants must have completed 2 years satisfactory experience as a certified sworn law enforcement officer in the state of Illinois or posses an Associates Degree with at least a C average (or its equivalent) with an emphasis in criminal justice, or possess 60 college credit hours with at least a C average (or its equivalent) with an emphasis in criminal justice, or possess a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree from a four year college or university† (http:www. tinleyparkpolice. org/police. html). Haddon Township Police department is another that was included in the list of police departments that require a four-year degree, however, their exception has somewhat different specifications: â€Å"Applicants must make a pre-employment agreement to achieve a Baccalaureate Degree within eight years from the time of employment. † (http://www. haddontwppolice. com/). Table 3 includes Police Departments that require four-year degrees, with exceptions or waiver conditions. Table 3 Police Departments that Have Four-Year Degree Requirements, With Exceptions PoliceLocation Departments Bath Police Department OH Bainbridge Township Police Department OH Charleston Police Department SC Cherry Hill Police Department NJ Coral Springs Police Department FL Haddon Township Police Department NJ Highland Park Police Department TX Hinsdale Police Department IL Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office FL Langlade County Sheriff’s Department WI Livonia Police Department MI Kettering Police Department OH Montgomery Township Police Department NJ Osh Kosh Police Department WI Plano Police Department TX Richland County Sheriff’s Office SC River Forest Police Department IL Shaler Police Department PA St. Paul Police Department MN Tinley Park Police Department IL Toms River Police Department NJ (Formerly Dover PD) Vernon Hills Police Department IL Willowbrook Police Department IL Note. N=23. Methodology Regarding the 1% of local police departments that require a four-year degree at the time of hire, it was noted previously that little information exists about the location of such departments. Intensive Internet searches, email and telephone contacts with multitudes of police recruiters and chiefs yielded 60 departments with four-year degree requirements, although only 37 of such departments had mandatory educational requirements resulting in no educational waivers. As it was unclear which department had mandatory requirements at the outset, 45 questionnaires were mailed to police chiefs at departments, which were believed to have mandatory requirements. Of those 45 questionnaires mailed, 40 were completed and returned–which was an excellent overall response rate of nearly 89%. Four of those surveys revealed that the departments surveyed did not require the four-year degree requirement; therefore, the results were not utilized. Thirty-six (36) returned questionnaires remained, revealing both important and relevant information about departments with mandatory requirements and were the subjects for this study. Thirty-seven (37) departments overall were found with mandatory requirements. Items on the questionnaires pertained to a wide range of subjects including the year in which such departments implemented their degree requirement; number of sworn officers; the chief’s education level; mean starting salaries for police officers; whether or not police chiefs had a preference in degree discipline; whether the chiefs preferred their officers had degrees that were vocational or theoretical in nature; whether chiefs preferred bachelor or arts degrees over bachelor of science degree; if officers who were hired before the degree requirement was established were required to complete respective degrees; whether they believed the degree requirement would be altered in the future; if applicant pool had increased, decreased or remained the same since the establishment of the degree requirement; the requirement’s impact on minority recruiting, and whether police chiefs believed officers with a college degree perform better than officers without a college degree. Additionally, two questions qualitatively regarding why police chiefs believed their respective departments had the mandatory requirement and why police chiefs believe only 1% of other departments have followed suit in mandating the requirement. Although glaring limitations to this analysis stem from the fact the little information exists regarding the reality of those one-percent of police departments that mandate a four-year degree, this is an exploratory step enabling further exploration into this important issue. Ultimately, the future professionalism of the policing field does hinge on raising degree requirements across police departments in America. Although only 36 police chiefs were surveyed, their information speaks volumes as to the need for other departments to follow their lead. As one chief eloquently stated: It is evident that society has become more complex. Problem solving skills along with communication skills are even more important today for police officers. A college education gives a foundation and more importantly legitimizes police work as a profession The instrument utilized has not proven reliable. However, this began a process of raising issues regarding the importance and the future of the college-degreed officer. At the outset, many officers are obtaining four-year degrees regardless of whether the degree is required or not. Results Information regarding the analysis of data is organized according to the research questions. For each question, the results are followed by an explanation and discussion of the findings. Only descriptive statistics were utilized, as there was no need for making inferences in this analysis. Eleven research questions were addressed in attempts to determine how departments that require four-year degrees are different from departments that have the requirement, and will waive it, or do not have such requirements. Descriptive data from the surveys revealed that the first department implemented their mandatory degree requirement in 1963. One chief responded, Our degree requirement was implemented in 1990. We changed the entry-level minimum educational requirement from a high chool diploma to a bachelor’s degree over the course of seven years. Research indicates police agencies should require a four-year degree. Table 4 describes the year departments implemented their mandatory degree requirement, with a range from 1963-2008. Table 4 Frequencies and Percentages for the Year Degree Requirements were Implemented Year Degree Requirement Implemented f% 1963 12. 8 1969 38. 3 1975 25. 6 1976 12. 8 1981 12. 8 1984 12. 8 1986 38. 3 1987 12. 8 1990 4 11. 1 1991 12. 8 1992 1 2. 8 1993 12. 8 994 12. 8 1995 12. 8 1996 12. 8 1997 25. 6 1998 38. 3 2000 12. 8 2005 12. 8 2006 1 2. 8 2008 12. 8 Note. N=36 It was apparent from the literature that only three of the largest police departments (by sworn officer) required a four-year degree. Tulsa Police Department is the largest department in this study, with 844 sworn officers. However, Tulsa is not the norm regarding departments with degree requirements and number of sworn officers, as results will show that most police departments with degree requirements have less than 100 sworn officers. However, of the 36 respondents in this particular study, the range of number of sworn officers was 15 at the smallest department to 844 sworn officers at the largest department included. The mean number of sworn officers was 127. 20 (SD=171. 46, MD=70). Table 5 illustrates the frequencies and percentages of sworn officers in departments with mandatory degree requirements, demonstrating that most of the departments with the requirement have fewer than 100 sworn officers; 16 departments have fewer than 50 sworn officers. Table 5 Frequencies and Percentages of Number of Sworn Officers in Departments with Mandatory Degree Requirements Number of Sworn Officers f % 1512. 8 2025. 6 2112. 8 212. 8 2512. 8 2712. 8 2912. 8 3112. 8 3412. 8 3725. 6 4012. 8 4312. 8 4612. 8 4812. 8 5412. 8 7025. 6 7212. 8 7412. 8 7512. 8 9812. 8 10312. 8 11225. 6 13712. 8 16012. 8 16512. 8 18912. 8 20012. 8 20512. 8 28212. 8 34012. 8 61512. 8 84412. 8 Note. N=36. Regarding the police chief’s level of educat ion, Table 6 contains the frequencies and percentages associated with levels of education broken down into five categories: Associate’s Degree, Bachelor’s Degree; One Master’s Degree; Multiple (2) Master’s Degree’s, and Doctorate Degree. One of the departments where the chief had an Associates degree, the mandatory requirement was implemented in 1981. Furthermore, in all 36 departments surveyed, no officer was on the force without a degree before the educational mandate has implemented was required to obtain a four-year degree. In essence, the grandfather clause was utilized. The same was true with the chief’s who did not meet the degree requirement, as they were not required to meet new degree requirements. Table 6 Police Chief’s Level of Education in Departments with Mandatory Four-Year Degree Requirements Degree Type Earnedf% Associate’s Degree25. 6 Bachelor’s Degree 10 27. 8 One Master’s Degree 22 61. 1 Two Master’s Degrees12. 8 Doctorate Degree12. 8 Note. N=36 Regarding the mean starting salaries for the departments that require a four-year degree, the mean starting salaries for police officers in police departments with four-year degree requirements are higher than salaries for police officers in departments without four-year degree requirements. City data was additionally gathered (www. bestplaces. net) regarding median household income for the 37 original locations of departments with mandatory degree requirements. The median household income for city residents pertaining to this sample was $61,330. According to the U. S. Census Bureau (2008) the median household income reached $50,233 in 2007. Therefore, it was likely that mean starting salaries for police officers in these locations would also be higher. According to one police chief surveyed: It’s all about tradition, size of city and location. The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics On-line (2006) states that the mean starting salary for police officers ranging from populations from 10,000 to over 1,000,000 was $38,569. As shown in Table 7, the mean starting salaries for police officers in police departments with mandatory four-year degree requirements was quite higher. A striking example of this is illustrated in one chief’s words, Thirty-nine percent of our residents over the age of 25 have an advanced collegiate degree. Our population is 27,000. Our residents are university professors, attorneys, medical doctors, CEO’s. Our village is considered upper class economically and home values are quite high. Many well-known people live here. Our police officers are comfortable inter-acting in our residents’ homes, even on the most sensitive matters. We don’t feel inferior. We belong here. Our residents value us. The four-year degree requirement helps us significantly in recruiting. We provide an average of more than 100 hours of training annually to our officers. Our ‘brand’ is that we are the ‘education and training’ department. This has been very effective for us. Table 7 Means and Other Statistics Concerning Salaries for Police Officers in Departments With Mandatory Four-Year Degree Requirements Starting Salary Mean $47,222 Median $46,786 Mode $40,000 SD $6,024 Minimum $34,901 Maximum $58,931 Note. N=36. Only two of the departments surveyed required that officer possess a four-year degree in Criminal Justice or Law Enforcement. It is common that police departments requiring Associate’s degrees are specifically looking for their police candidates to have an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice or a closely related field. However, upon surveying police chiefs in departments with mandatory four-year degree requirements, only seven or 19. 4% preferred criminal justice or closely related degrees. Seventy-five ercent (75%) of police chiefs in this study believed that a four-year degree in any discipline was acceptable. Two police chiefs in this sample were uncertain as to whether they preferred a criminal justice degree to a degree in any o ther discipline. When asked whether the police chiefs preferred a practical/vocational degree or a degree that was theoretical/academic in nature, or if they had no preference, the majority (63. 9%) of chiefs had no preference–either orientation was acceptable, stating that was precisely the four-year degree in itself that mattered. Table 8 illustrates the frequencies and percentages of practical versus theoretical orientations. Table 8 Frequencies and Percentages of Degree Orientation Preference: Practical v. Theoretical Degree Orientation Preferencef% Prefer practical/vocational orientation822. 2 Prefer theoretical/academic orientation411. 1 No preference, either acceptable 2363. 9 Uncertain 1 2. 8 Note. N=36. The results of this study lend little support either way to Bostrom’s (2005) finding. Although several police chiefs could break down the percentage of their officers who had a Bachelor of Arts degree or Bachelor of Science degree, only one respondent believed that officers with a Bachelor of Science perform better than officers with a Bachelor of Arts degree. Seventy-five (75%) or 27 police chiefs believed there is no difference in work habits or performance regarding whether an officer has a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree. The remaining respondents (25%) were uncertain as to whether there was a true difference among the types of degree. Whatever the case, a common theme emerged, We believe the quality of our officers and the services provided are enhanced by a better-educated workforce. Policing is an extremely complex profession, requiring individuals who can apply abstract concepts within difficult situations. We can also assign more complex duties to our officers. Table 9 reviews the police chief’s opinions regarding the future of the degree requirement, and whether they believed it would be altered in the future. It was clearly apparent that in these departments, the degree requirement is a fixed quality. Table 9 Chiefs’ Opinions Regarding the Future of Their Degree Requirement Future Expectations f% Expect to retain requirement Indefinitely3391. 7 Expect requirement to be altered In future 2 5. 6 Uncertain 1 2. 8 Note. N=36. We hope to keep our degree requirement forever. With the high percentage of college graduates in today’s society, I don’t believe this requirement is unreasonable. It’s our goal to continue to pursue the ‘most qualified’ applicants for our police department. Many police departments are hesitant to adopt a mandatory educational requirement due to fears that applicant pools will dwindle if requirement is enforced. According to this sample, nearly 64% of police chiefs reported that their respective applicant pools have indeed decreased due to their educational mandate. However, others felt different. The four-year degree requirement has served us well. We typically receive about 70 applicants for every 1-3 openings we try to fill. All of which have the four-year degree and either enrollment or completion of the police academy. Another responded in a way to overcome the issue of lower applicant pools, cautioning a reason why this will not happen at large, Yes, the requirement decreases this applicant pool. In my opinion, for a department to have an educational requirement such as ours, a strong recruitment effort is necessary. We recruit over 15 northern Ohio colleges that have law enforcement majors programs to get an adequate number of participants to take our civil service tests. That is an expensive endeavor, one that most cities won’t make. † Table 10 reviews police chief’s opinions regarding application pools and their particular educational requirement. Table 10 Stability of Application Pools in Police Departments with Mandatory Four-Year Degree Requirement Level of Police Applicants f% Application pool has increased With degree requirement25. 6 Application pool has decreased With degree requirement 23 63. 9 Application pool has stayed the same 10 27. 8 Uncertain 12. 8 Note. N=36. One of the predominant reasons offered as to why more police departments do not have a mandatory degree requirement is that enforcing such a mandate would have a negative impact on recruiting. One chief replied, it’s ‘politically correct’ to lower education standards to avoid the wrath of the special interest-minority groups who wish to lower educational standards to increase the minority population in the applicant pool. Table 11 describes frequencies and percentages of police chiefs’ opinions regarding their requirement’s impact on minority recruiting. Interestingly, only 11% of respondents believed the requirement had a positive impact on recruiting minorities. Two interesting responses emerged regarding the process of calming the regarded negative impact on recruiting: If I can keep the requirement a few more years, we will have a majority of officers with degrees and there will be less internal pressure to lower standards. As long as we hire a significant percentage of minorities, there will be less claims of adverse impact—nine are female, five are Hispanic. We will evolve to the point that candidates for promotion with degrees are more likely to get the appointment. Lack of applicant pool and minorities. While this is true, it can be overcome. We have fewer applicants, but they are higher quality. Our recruitment methods continually change to reach our target audience. We work with many minority groups to reach out to minority populations. One respondent was adamant regarding this issue, The minority community that believes there would be an ‘adverse impact. ’ There isn’t. Table 11 Requirements Impact on Recruiting Minorities Level of Impact f % Requirement has had a positive Impact on recruitment of Minorities411. 1 Requirement has had a negative impact on recruitment of minorities1027. 8 Requirement has had no impact on recruitment of minorities1130. 6 Uncertain 1130. 6 Note. N=36. Another important issue addressed concerns that highly relevant debate: Does a college degree make for a better police officer? The answer to that question among the 36 police chiefs was not unanimous, but the majority (80. 6%) indeed believed that officers with a degree perform better. In efforts to once again address this century-old debate, Table 12 describes the realities of police chiefs’ opinions on this theme. Table 12 Do Officers with a College Degree Perform Better? Police Chief’s Opinions f% Yes, officers with a degree perform better2980. 6 No, officers with a degree do not perform better 411. 1 Uncertain 3 8. 3 Note. N=36. In an attempt to dig deeper into the above issues and subjects, a qualitative approach was utilized to uncover themes predominant to this analysis. Although important descriptive information has been revealed, few attempts have been taken to qualitatively explore the two important issues relevant here—opinions of police chiefs from that one-percent of police departments with mandatory degree requirements. Herein, two final questions needed exploration: Why do their departments actually have their mandatory degree requirement and why they believe so few departments actually require the degree? After careful thought and consideration, they shared their opinions and beliefs—those of which should be held in high regard, as they are the select few who have shown to be pioneers in their concrete efforts to bring about professionalism to the policing field. Police Chief’s Explanations as to Why Their Respective Departments Have the Four-Year Degree Requirement Aside from stern recommendations encouraging police administrators and community leaders to adopt educational standards, Our department adopted the requirement based Carter, Sapp and Stephens findings and the recommendations of the 1967 Presidential Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals that said that a four-year degree should be required by all law enforcement by 1981 six themes emerged from analyzing the data regarding why these departments actually have the degree requirement. 1. It is our tradition and part of our institutional, organizational and community culture and we are valued. It’s our tradition. We are the only agency in the state that still requires a four-year degree. We have always required this and I believe we hire exemplary people with more maturity and a strong sense of direction than those without the degree. It’s really a huge part of our culture. We hope to keep our four-year educational degree requirement forever. With the high percentage of college graduates in today’s society, I don’t believe this requirement is unreasonable. It’s our goal to continue to pursue the ‘most qualified’ applicants for our department One of the best things I did 17 years ago was to convince the governing body to pass the four-year degree requirement. Since then the department has hired 140 of our 160 officers (bright, educated and professional). After becoming Chief in 1992, I felt strongly that this would have a very positive impact on the department and it has. Very well-respected, very few discipline problems or concerns. 2. The degree carries with it a level of expertise, knowledge and perseverance that represent us in our communities well. The requirement for a bachelor’s degree generally assures that an applicant can read and write; has been exposed to complex written materials requiring some level of analysis; has developed some level of critical thinking and communication skills, and has achieved at least some measurable relatively long-term goal in their lifetime. A bachelor’s degree limits the number of applicants who, most probably, would not be selected anyway. It also increases the quality of the applicant pool (education-level wise), which makes for a better police officer and increases the minimum age of the applicants, making them more experienced in life. It also shows that you have people at the very least, had the ‘stick-to-it-ivness’ to persevere through four years of college. It also eliminates the need for education reimbursement for officers pursuing bachelor’s degrees. We believe that it provides us with a more mature, well-rounded and worldly candidate who has more experience interacting with many different people from all walks of life† 3. Education levels of the police force should mirror the education level of the communities they serve. To reflect the demographics of the community we serve. According to the Census, Wilmette has one of the highest education levels in America. We want to be representative of those we serve in race, gender, education level and foreign language. This is also a successful strategy for maintaining high salaries and benefits. We wanted to ensure our police officers’ education level closely mirrored the education level and demographics of our community. Over 70% of adult residents in our community have a bachelor’s degree. 4. A belief in excellence and quality—the degree makes a difference in performance. The department instituted this educational requirement in 1993 due to the belief that educated officers will be better decision makers and have better communication skills, both in oral and written form Department belief of excellence—higher quality of service to community, being leaders in profession Quality candidate, self-thinking and less supervision. Enhanced knowledge, skills and abilities as well as communications skills (oral and written); critical thinking and analytical skills; broader viewpoints; more tolerant; foundation of criminal justice concepts; self-discipline; and time management. We believe that a better educated work-force is necessary in dealing with the public and are higher educated. We also believe that education enhances communication skills which are necessary in police work. A higher educated person is a more rounded individual, which leads to a better police officer To have a better qualified work force 5. A belief that the mandatory degree promotes professionalism both in their communities and for the entire police field. We believe that this should be the standard if we are to continue to develop and promote a professional police organization Academics have pushed our department to a new level of professionalism and innovation To significantly improve the quality of police services via intelligent, articulate and professional personnel To establish professional standards at entry-level We are located in a city with a university with a strong criminal justice program. We have several members of our police and fire commission who are affiliated with the university. The four-year degree requirement enhances our professionalism. 6. Officers with a college degree are more mature and have stronger goal- reaching abilities. I feel that a person demonstrates his/her desire to be a police officer by completing four year of study in criminal justice. They prove not only a strong desire to become a police officer, but possess the ability to set a goal and achieve it. It also demonstrates that ability to learn. That is why a four-year bachelors degree in criminal justice, criminology or law enforcement exists. It is specific to those who set a goal for law enforcement and achieve it. Increases odds of mature/smart candidate. Maturity, dedication, experience and age of applicants are more suitable for employment. Police Chief’s Explanations as to Why They Believe So Few Departments in the U. S. Actually Require a Four-Year Degree Only three out of the 36 police chiefs surveyed stated that they were not satisfied with their department’s educational policy. However, over 90% were satisfied with their departmental policies requiring college degrees. Aside from the following two realities many police leaders encounter–one being that the college degree is not mandated as a requirement by most licensing boards, and it may be prevented because of civil service regulations–five themes emerged regarding police chiefs explanations as to why they believe so few departments actually require degrees: 1. It’s all about money and over-all job satisfaction that one perceives a college-degree should bring. We have issues retaining officers and we frequently lose them to higher paying positions outside the field of policing. University instructors, technical school instructors, social work have all been attractive to our officers. Governments are reluctant to pay the higher wages for an applicant with a degree. Most agencies cannot pay adequate salaries for advanced degrees. Higher degreed people are not satisfied being a police officer. Money. Most departments cannot afford to start our a patrol officer at what a college graduate could make It certainly can hurt the applicant pool, depending on the salary Possibly they believe their pay-rates are not high enough to attract college graduates. Lack of pay for many smaller agencies 2. The degree requirement decreases applicant pools. Although some did not agree, the majority of police chiefs surveyed stated their department’s mandatory degree equirement has reduced applicant pools. It reduces the pool of potential applicants at a time when suitable applicants are hard to find. There remains a high percentage of law enforcement executives and government officials who believe a four-year degree is not a necessity in preparing an individual for a law enforce ment career. Because of the difficulty in finding a sufficient number of qualified candidates Reduction in applicant pool is significant 3. The chiefs in this studied strongly valued education, however education overall is under-valued in policing. Most chiefs say they value education, but stop short of making it a requirement. Education is under-valued in policing. The four-year degree requirement make recruiting tougher and it creates challenges for retaining personnel. † I still believe that the majority of police leaders are, as a law-enforcement culture, anti-education for police officers 4. Police leaders who have not attained a college degree may not find one necessary. Therefore, this presents itself as a great challenge, one of increasing overall education standards. Administrators may not believe a college degree is necessary, especially if they have not earned one How to cite 1% of Local Police Departments, Essay examples

Global Business Operation Case Study of IKEA

Question: Discuss about theGlobal Business Operationfor Case Study of IKEA. Answer: Introduction: The purpose of the case study report is to analyse the business operation of an organisation in comparison to home country and Australia. Ikea, the Swedish retail home furniture brand has been selected as the organisation for the case study. It has been the worlds largest furniture retailer since 2008 (Ikea.com 2017). The organisation is well known for its best business practices in its domestic land and the international market as well. The analysis shall be based on the culture and management behaviour, global corporate social responsibility and the multi-national competitive advantage. Analysis of Business Operation: Culture and ManagementBehaviour: IKEAs cultural and management behaviour has always been inclined towards supporting the diverse culture of the work force. The Company does not faces much challenges in its terms of cultural diversity in its homeland but it has indeed faced challenges in terms of managing the staffs from conflicts and diversity (Ikea.com 2017). In order to overcome this distress, it has been found that the Company has taken major steps like training the staffs and setting a standard format in the organisational value that keep up the essential value and avoid any kind misunderstanding. This is eventually done in order to improve the performance of the employees and increase productivity of the organisation (Smh.com.au 2016). In its report, IKEA stated that their organisational policies are framed in a way that inspires people to contribute towards the working of the organisation. They believe that every individual has something valuable to offer that would automatically contribute to the success of the organisational activities. As pointed out by Aves (2017), in the era of globalisation, organisations are bound to face challenges in terms of cultural diversity and it falls on the responsibility of the management of the organisation to set proper guidelines that each individual working for the organisation should receive the respect (Ikea.com 2017). It can be clearly said that IKEA has been inspiring people to show their creativity and innovation and that has continuously developed the productivity of the co-workers (Au.indeed.com 2017). Global CorporateSocialResponsibility: In terms of global responsibility, IKEA has always given priority to sustainability. Their way of working is shaped in a way that does less harm to the environment. IKEA has been doing more than achieving success in market. In Sweden, the organisation has been found to partner with INICEF and donated Euros to save the lives of children (Ikea.com 2017). The organisation has contributed towards improving the situation of children who were the victims of child labour and also contributed towards women empowerment (Willi 2015). IKEA also holds a fundraising program every year to donate money and support Childrens Rights Business Principles developed by UNICEF. If the Social Responsibility as conducted in Australia is considered, it has to be said that IKEA has social initiative programs in Australia that is aimed at improving the lives of children in need through health, education and basic human rights (Ikea.com 2017). The organisation has also partnered with the WWF and has helped improvement in the life of animals. The Company believes that nobody is actually equal till everybody is equal and thus, embraces vision to improve the condition of the co-workers, suppliers, customers and even the local communities (Smh.com.au 2016). In terms of sustainability approach, it has been found that the organisation recycles their products and contributes towards a safer and greener environment. IKEA stores also generate solar power that supports the warehouses across the country. The organisation has certain sustainability goals that are aimed to be achieved by 2020 (Ikea.com 2017). Multi-NationalCompetitive Advantage: IKEAs corporate culture can be considered to provide competitive advantage to the organisation. In Sweden, the organisation gains competitive advantage in terms of the effective employees and labourers working for the organisation (Ikea.com 2017). It is the global giant that has huge numbers of stores compared to its competitors like TESCO, ASDA, Barn Furniture and others. The company makes products of different ranges and offer the same at a lower cost than its competitors. In addition to this, people of Europe are also fascinated towards the innovative products offered by the Company (Ikea.com 2017). This way the company has been enjoying competitive advantage in its domestic land. In Australia, IKEA has been able to broaden its customer base by offering a number of facilities that other organisations do not offer. The furniture retail giant has its online store that makes the shopping experience easier for the consumers. This is one of the competitive advantages that the organisation enjoys in terms of others (Ikea.com 2017). The numerable numbers of stores with great customer servicing has always attracted consumers to purchase product from IKEA and not other domestic brands like Harvey Norman. It has been found that the company has 349 stores operating in more than 43 countries (Willi 2015). IKEA offers before and after sales services to its consumers. Other competitive advantages that it has are the growing demand of the consumers and the innovative products that it has to offer to its customers. Conclusion: A detailed analysis of the corporate working of IKEA has been done here. It has been observed that IKEA has been successful in terms of providing all the necessary amenities and basic rights to its employees. The organisation has the best corporate culture in terms of its competitors. The organisational approaches are similar in this domestic land, Sweden, Europe and that in Australia. In terms of corporate social responsibility as well, the organisation has contributed towards the betterment of the society by supporting the lives of children. The organisation has gained competitive advantage in terms of product differentiation and competitive pricing. The retail giant has something to offer to every consumer. The organisation has been found to prosper in its business field and it is expected that the way the organisation is offering services to its employees and the consumers, it has a great future ahead in terms of its competitors as well. References: Au.indeed.com 2017 IKEA Review Available at: https://au.indeed.com/cmp/Ikea/reviews [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Aves, J., 2017 IKEA From products to experiences Available at: https://customerthink.com/ikea-from-products-to-experiences/ [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Ikea.com 2017 Human resource Available at: https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/the_ikea_story/working_at_ikea/work_areas_human_resources.html [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Ikea.com 2017 IKEA Human Rights Available at: https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/this-is-ikea/people-and-planet/people-and-communities/index.html [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Ikea.com 2017 People and Planet Available at: https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/this-is-ikea/people-and-planet/index.html [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Ikea.com 2017 Responsibility beyond home furnishing Available at: https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_SG/the_ikea_story/people_and_the_environment/ [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Ikea.com 2017 Working at the IKEA group Available at: https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_AU/this-is-ikea/working-at-the-ikea-group/index.html [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Smh.com.au 2016 IKEA boss happy to take long way to top Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/ikea-boss-happy-to-take-long-way-to-top-20110916-1kdmw.html [Accessed on: 3-5-2017] Willis, R., 2015 Australias latest IKEA store opens flat pack culture up to a whole new audience Available at: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/home-mag/australias-latest-ikea-store-opens-flatpack-culture-up-to-a-whole-new-audience/news-story/61614fcc8baaae0378696680841ebaf6 [Accessed on: 3-5-2017]

The Influence of the Global Moment Essay Example

The Influence of the Global Moment Essay Western Area History Professor Klaus Dietrich July 15, 2014 The year 1919 has very significant meanings throughout the world history. It is because the World War One which took four years finally ended in November 1918. Germany surrendered to the Allies and a new world order was established under the Treaty of Versailles In 1919. Before the Great War, the almost whole Europe especially the Brittle Empire and France and also the united States and Japan which Is the first Asian nation were obsessed with the imperialism and the colonialism. It is because these countries needed a new land. After the Industrial Revolution, these countries experienced the excessive capital accumulation and the rapid population growth. Therefore, they needed a new market to export their capital surplus and a new territory for their overpopulation. Also, the Social Darwinism and the strengthened nationalism after Italian and German unification In 1861 and 1871 respectively justified their imperialism. Therefore, many Asia and Africa countries were their typical sacrifices. Korea and Poland were also the sacrifices. Both countries were under the control of other countries and Poland was colonized faster than Korea. Poland experienced three partitions in 1772, 1793 and 1795 by the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia and Hapsburg Austria. The occupied Polish society looked different depended on the occupying nation. The area occupied by Russia was the 1830 and the January Uprising in 1863, brutal revenge followed by the Russian government. It tried to erase all traces of former Polish autonomy. We will write a custom essay sample on The Influence of the Global Moment specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Influence of the Global Moment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Influence of the Global Moment specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer For example, it changed the name of the Congress Pollards land into Fistula Land (Kara Individuals) and divided the kingdom into ten provinces. Also it banned the Polish language and Russian became the official language of the country. Only the area controlled by Austria was better than the others. The Austrian government allowed a certain local autonomy so the Poles in this area could have their own local government called Governor Commission (Osmosis Gubernatorial) which had a considerable power and Polish language was also accepted. However, all Poles have the same, single desire to achieve independence and unify the divided countries although they were controlled by different countries. On the other hand, in the late 19th century, the Korean Peninsula was ruled by the Jones dynasty. From 1800 the little children aged around 10 became the king continually and they could not manage the country very well. So internally there were many peasant uprisings continuously. The rebellion of Hong Geeing-Ana in 1811 and the peasant rebellion in Jinni in 1862 were typical examples. Many western countries coerced the Jones Dynasty to open the ports for trade but the Jones government was afraid that their ideology and social order which they had preserved with great effort by their ancestors would be destroyed by strange Westerners. It already had a conflict with the Roman Catholicism. It was introduced in Korea under the name of Western Learning (8%) after the late 18th century and brought shocking ideas such as the human equality and the refusal to carry out ancestral worship to the society. Nobles and the government who were deeply influenced by the Confucianism were hard to accept these ideas so they stuck to isolationism as their only measure to protect the country. In addition, the two Opium Wars between the Great Britain and the King Dynasty made the Someones door closed more tightly. However, this isolationism could not protect them unlike their expectation. It was Just a temporary expedient which made Jones fall behind international developments. As a result, the hermit Jones was unveiled forcibly by Japan and other imperialist countries. Jones was exposed to the world capitalistic market defenseless and eventually it was annexed by Japan in 1910. Toward the end of the World War One in 1918, people were totally exhausted with imperialism and disgusting wars. They wanted peace earnestly and Woodrow Willows Fourteen Points was good enough to satisfy the peoples desire. Wilson was the president of the United States and he presented the fourteen points in the Congress on the 8th of January, 1918 in order to make the fundamental principles for finishing the war and establishing a Justice and lasting peace. There are several reasons to say that Willows fourteen points succeeded in some degree. Firstly, the Fourteen Points helped the Allied Forces to win the World War One. Actually, the fact itself that the United States participated in the World War One was a tremendous assistance to the Allied Forces for sure. In addition, the points Justified and motivated he Allied Forces by censuring the German imperialism and the provocation. I think this Justification might be a mental supporter to help the Allied troops reassured and win. Also, Willows statement might succeed a little bit to persuade the German and the Austrian to cooperate to make the world peace together. Secondly, Willows foundation of the League of Nations. However, frankly speaking, the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations nominally spoke about the peace which was similar to Willows ideology, but both had a lot of weaknesses. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties. It was very important because it would decide the future of Germany after the war. However, the victorious countries were not interested in her future at all. It was not the promise for the peace based on reconciliation but revenge. It was a very harsh and humiliating treaty for Germany. Germany lost all the foreign investment, colonies and vessels but the most brutal article was about reparations. It cost 132 billion Marks which was an exorbitant amount of money. The Germans thought that it was too severe and unfair even though they prepared for humiliation and loss as the people of the defeated country. The peace treaty ironically became a seed of another revenge. Another problem is the League of Nations could not impose tough sanctions because it did not have its own army. So it could only imposed economic sanctions which were not enough to solve international disputes. As a result, the onset of the Second World War proved that the League did not do its role well. Even though both had a lot of weaknesses, at least the Treaty of Versailles contributed to the postwar stability and also the League of Nations had some meanings as the first international peace organization. Lastly, Willows Fourteen Points helped many countries achieve their independence or affected their independence movements a lot. We cannot talk about the Fourteen Points without the self-determination. I think self-determination is the most important vocabulary in his speech because it affected the world the most among the other principles such as open diplomacy and agreements, free trade with the equal terms of trade, reduced armaments and democracy. It had a special meaning because the self-determination in the points was not simply for finishing the war but for eliminating the original reasons of the war. Wilson tried not to simply focus on the balance of the power but to focus on the self-determination which means all countries should have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or interferences regardless of their power. He said, It is the principle of Justice to all peoples and nationalities and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak. 2 It gave a huge hope not only to European countries but also to the colonial countries in Asia. In reality, many ethnic minorities dominated by Germany ND Austria established independent nations. To be specific, Poland, Finland, Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia), Hungary, Czechoslovakia and many other countries achieved independence. These are the three reasons why Willows Fourteen Points are important and a series of worldwide situations resulted from the points so that is why some people call the global moment of 1919 as the Wilson Moment. Now, let us look more deeply about Poland and Korea situation after the global moment. As I said before, Poland enjoyed the pleasure of independence after 123 years of partitions but it was not all pleasure. Most regions in Poland were destroyed because of the war and they were poor. Also it had a serious regional imbalance problem because three regions were under the control of different countries before unification. They had used different currencies and had different combine all together. The Second Polish Republic was created after the independence and JÂ ¶kef Pulaski became the chief of State. It was a parliamentary democracy with the president who had limited powers. The global moment brought independence and democracy to Poland but could not maintain the peace and democracy for a long time because of Pulaski. He wanted to recover the former territory of the kingdom of Poland so he started the Polish-Soviet War in 1919. In addition, other wars with neighboring countries were continued even after independence to decide the borderline. At the end, he seized the power by a military coup in 1926 so democracy ended in short. On the other hand, Korea could not achieve the independence because Korea was the colony of the victorious country, Japan. The Fourteen Points was only for colonies of defeated countries. That is why some people say that Koreans who believed that the Willows speech would bring hem independence were too naive or they did not understand the situation well. However, I think this is not true. Koreans already knew that they could not achieve the independence according to the Willows Fourteen Points, especially the Korean students studying in Tokyo who did 2. 8 Independence Declaration in 1919. However they attempted to extend the range of application to establish a foothold for independence. Willows Fourteen Points failed to give Korea independence directly but it is certain that it gave Korea a huge hope and possibility of independence. This name out as the most famous Korean independence movement, March 1st Movement in 1919 and after this movement, many things changed. Firstly, there was a huge transition of independence method. The independence movement was done by secret associations in sass, so participants were limited. However, after this movement, they began to accept diverse ideologies like democracy and socialism. So many people could participate in the movement and the activities became more various. Secondly, March 1st Movement changed the Japanese governance. Japanese government realized that the Forced Rule in sass was not proper to control the Koreans, so the government changed the rule to Cultural Rule which allowed Koreans to have limited freedom. Lastly, March 1st Movement influenced other countries such as Sandhogs campaigns for independence from the British Empire which is famous for nonviolent disobedience in India and also had effect on the May Fourth Movement in China. I think the global moment still have important meanings in Korean history because of the reasons above. It proved Koreans strength. They continued independence movements rather than giving up, even though their hope was disregarded by Western countries. In conclusion, the global moment influenced lot not only Poland and Korea but also the whole world after the World War One. Peoples fatigue and desire for the peace led to Willows Fourteen Points and his speech opened the global moment.

3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers

3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers 3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers 3 More Sentences with Dangling Modifiers By Mark Nichol When writers attach a phrase to the beginning of a sentence to provide additional information, they must take care that the subject of the sentence actually refers to the action or the thing described in that introductory text. Here are some sentences that illustrate the necessity of this vigilance. 1. â€Å"Originally scheduled for retirement (and certain death) in 2003, the hapless racehorse’s trainer now says that after Glorious Spring’s last race, the horse will be allowed to retire to a comfy pasture on a farm near her birthplace.† This sentence implies that the hapless racehorse’s trainer was originally scheduled for retirement and death – perhaps by execution, because of culpability for the horse’s losing streak? However, it is the horse, not the trainer, whose retirement (and subsequent visit to the slaughterhouse) was averted. The subject of the sentence must be unambiguous: â€Å"The racehorse was originally scheduled for retirement in 2003, but her trainer now says that after Glorious Spring’s last race, the horse will be allowed to retire to a comfy pasture on a farm near Glorious Spring’s birthplace.† (The horse is named again in this revision because the trainer’s gender is not clear thanks to his ambiguous Japanese name, which is not shown in this excerpt and â€Å"her birthplace† might be misconstrued as the trainer’s.) 2. â€Å"Raised in a Lutheran family, two of Paul’s brothers became ministers, and he chose to ‘minister through medicine.’† Two of Paul’s brothers were raised in a Lutheran family, but so were Paul and another brother, and the sentence implies that Lutherans raised only those who became ministers (and, perhaps that those two brothers were raised in another household); the influence of that upbringing on him is obscured. The sentence should be revised to explicitly place the emphasis on Paul (and I’ve clarified the source of the partial quote): â€Å"Paul and his brothers were raised in a Lutheran family, and two of them became ministers, while he chose, as he put it, to ‘minister through medicine.’† 3. â€Å"Normally a four-day voyage, the crew only brought four days’ worth of rations, not anticipating a strong headwind to slow the schooner.† This sentence names the crew as a four-day voyage. To eliminate this unfortunate association, describe the voyage’s customary duration with a simple declarative syntax, then attach the rest of the information: â€Å"The voyage normally took four days, and the crew, not anticipating a strong headwind that slowed the schooner, brought only four days’ worth of rations.† (Note, too, how the revision moves and parenthesizes the incidental information about the obstructive headwind.) Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Grammar category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:85 Synonyms for â€Å"Help†What is Dative Case?10 Humorous, Derisive, or Slang Synonyms for â€Å"Leader† or â€Å"Official†