Journal of Criminal Law and CriminologyVolume 52Issue 1 May-June Article 11

Summer 1961

The Importance of Training and Education in theProfessionalization of Law EnforcementGeorge H. Brereton

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Recommended CitationGeorge H. Brereton, The Importance of Training and Education in the Professionalization of Law Enforcement, 52 J. Crim. L.Criminology & Police Sci. 111 (1961)

POLICE SCIENCE

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING AND EDUCATION IN THEPROFESSIONALIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT*

GEORGE H. BRERETON

George H. Brereton is Deputy Director, Department of Justice, for the State of California. Mr.Brereton has had wide experience in the law enforcement field, serving at one time with the BerkeleyPolice Department, subsequently as Director of the Police Training School, San Jose (California)State College, and with the California State Department of Education ap First State Supervisor ofPeace Officers' Training. Mr. Brereton has also served as Chief of the Bureau of Criminal Identifica-tion and Investigation and as Assistant Director, Division of Criminal Law and Enforcement,Department of Justice, State of California. He has written extensively on law enforcement problemsincluding earlier articles in this Journal.-EDITOR.

Anyone who has given any thought at all to theprofessionalization of law enforcement personnel,or to obtaining general recognition of law enforce-ment as a profession, will have to agree that oneof the most important steps we must take in itsaccomplishment is the establishment of educationalstandards and training which are comparable tothose which are found in many other "professions".This article is concerned primarily with this onephase of standards and qualifications which mustbe established and attained if we, in law enforce-ment, are to be recognized as a profession. How-

ever, I am in no way attempting to minimizeother attributes and qualifications which we expectto find in, and must require of the true professionallaw enforcement officer. The intelligence, physicalattributes, age, character, reputation, and per-

sonality are all important. "The qualities of in-

tegrity, honesty, justice, decency, benevolence,compassion, and all the other virtues we lookfor in wholesome leadership throughout the world

are the same qualities that we desire to see repre-sented throughout all of the police service."'

But I cannot include these topics in this paper.I shall discuss only some of the highlights in thedevelopment of police education and trainingin the United States. I do this because of their

inseparable and important relationship with pro-

* An address made to the Oregon-Washington Law-mans' Association, March 22, 1960, Salem, Oregon.

'DANIEL S. C. Liu, Chief of Police, Honolulu,Hawaii, Professional Standards of the Police Service,Tam PoucE Y-AR BooK, International Association ofChiefs of Police, Inc., 1959, pp. 169-170.

fessionalization of the police service, and alsobecause of the fact that no law enforcement agencytoday can function effeciently or effectively unlessit includes high standards of education and train-ing in its plans and operations.

In presenting this subject it will be necessaryto single out certain individuals and law enforce-ment agencies, or schools and colleges, whichinfluenced, in varying degrees of importance, theprofessionalization of law enforcement officers.In doing so I have no intention of either slightingor disparaging the influence or the activities ofothers who are not mentioned. Time has not per-mitted exhaustive research of this subject, nor isspace available to permit me to name everyonewho has participated in this activity.

The idea that it is necessary to have a welltrained "career" or professional police officer isby no means a new one. This was recognized andput into practice at a very early date, both on theContinent of Europe and in England. For manyyears the various police departments in Europehave had extensive training programs for theirpolice officers. Their "commissioned" officers, asdistinguished from their non-commissioned officers,are educated in colleges and universities for acareer in public service, or for the army, from whichthey are often recruited. These men make a careerof the police service and are promoted throughvarious ranks and sometimes are promoted froma small city to a larger city as opportunities arepresented and their abilities are recognized.

Nor are the ideas of establishing minimum stand-ards, selection, training, etc., any longer new or

GEORGE H. BRERETON

unique in the United States. They have been"old hat" for many years. The question which hasperturbed me the most and which, I am sure hascaused numerous other law enforcement officialsgreat concern, is why it has taken so long for somany law enforcement officials, city, county, statelegislators, and citizens, to recognize what is neededto improve law enforcement and to take the neces-sary steps to accomplish it. Certainly, it could notbe from lack of knowledge of the problems sincethey have been enumerated, and, with suggestedremedies, have been broadcast both orally and inwritten form for many years by outstanding stu-dents of government and law enforcement officials.Illustrative of what I mean is a statement, made in1923 by August Vollmer, famous chief of police(now deceased) of Berkeley, California. Withreference to police recruiting he said: "The firststep in any plan to make our police departmentsmore competent to control crime is keeping outrather than the removal after they get in-of unde-sirable, incompetent, and mentally or physicallyunfit persons from the police force.., an unfit orincompetent policeman weakens the moral fiberof his associates and at the same time destroysthe confidence of the public in the department.The protective organization suffers, and societyalways pays the bill when the 'policemen' of acommunity are dishonest, brutal, stupid, andphysically or tempermentally unsuited to theirwork."

2

Vollmer, who at the time of this statement wason a year's leave of absence from Berkeley, andwas Chief of Police of Los Angeles, made sevenrecommendations which would in his opinion raisethe standards and vastly improve the police de-partments of virtually every city in the UnitedStates. They were:

1. Establish and maintain higher standards ofeducation, mental, moral and physical re-quirements for applicants.

2. Observation of all recruits by a medicopsy-chologist during their training period.

3. Withhold police authority from the recruituntil he has proved by his conduct and hisknowledge that he is fitted to discharge theduties of his position.

4. Establish preparatory and promotionalcourses for policemen in colleges and univer-sities.

2AuGUST VOLLMER in DEARBORN INDEPENDENT,

June 21, 1924, pp. 13-14, incl. (Italics added.)

5. Establish crime prevention divisions andappoint a trained criminologist to conductthe activities of the division.

6. Establish a merit system in police depart-ments.

7. Educate the public and secure its friendshipand cooperation with the police department.3

An additional recommendation which I willmake, although it might be included in Vollmer's96 recommendation, is that in order to obtainthe very best personnel available in the city,county, or state:

Pay good salaries, provide adequate vacation,sickness and disability benefits and establisha sound and efficient pension and retirementsystem.With respect to his fourth recommendation, it

was because of his efforts that the University ofCalifornia first established, in the summer sessionof 1916, a six week criminology and police course.This was "probably the first course designed forpolice training in a big university".4 I do not wishto imply, in quoting Chief Vollmer's statement,that no thought had been given by anyone elseto police training or that police training programshad not been inaugurated prior to 1923. Such isnot the case.

HIGIILIGHTS IN FORTY YEARS OF POLICETRAINING

As early as 1906 a training school was estab-lished by the Pennsylvania State Police. In 1911the Detroit Police Department established itstraining school for recruits to be followed a fewyears later by New York's Police Academy. In1917 New York State Police established a trainingschool for its troopers, which, in 1921 expanded itstraining activities so that any New York peace offi-cer was allowed to enroll in the six week trainingcourse whichwas given eachyearduring the monthsof January and February. In 1928 the New Yorktraining program was further extended by es-tablishing zone or regional schools for local peaceofficers in nineteen zones into which the state wasdivided. In 1921 the New Jersey State Policeestablished its training school, which a few yearslater, was made available to New Jersey peaceofficers, other than State Police. This was a threemonths school which was operated during the fallof each year.

3 Ibid.4 MUNICIPAL POLICE ADxMNIsTRATION 4th Edition,

1954, International City Managers' Association, p. 210.

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PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

During this same period training schools wereestablished by Michigan State Police and thePolice Departments of Detroit, Louisville, Cincin-nati, Portland (Oregon), Los Angeles, and Berke-ley. They were considered by Munro "to standout in their respective spheres", but with respectto the training schools of other departments "mostof them (were) elementary compared to Euro-pean schools"A A more critical evaluation of localpolice training and of departmental trainingschools in the United States prior to 1931 is foundin the Wickersham Report, named for GeorgeW. Wickersham, Chairman of the National Com-mission on Law Observance and Enforcement.

David G. Monroe says, as a result of a personalsurvey of 225 towns having less than 10,000 popu-lation, and 75 towns between 10,000 and 75,000,plus the information obtained from "question-naires sent to all cities in the United States over10,000... there is absolutely nothing done whichby any stretch of the imagination could be con-sidered as police training" in the group below10,000 population. "Not one of the cities hadexperience as a requirement for admission to theforce, 216 never inquired if the prospective police-man could handle a gun, and 185 sent the man outon duty with no instruction and even without theaid and advice of an experienced man. Fortycities placed the beginner with an older man fromperiods of a night to one week." 6

Out of the 383 cities who replied to the 745questionnaires which were sent out "seventy-eight(about 20 per cent) reported some method oftraining. Of the 20 per cent having training, notmore than 15 gave courses which could be con-sidered to qualify the recruit as the possessor ofa proper background for efficient work".7

Munroe, however, did mention, apparently withsome favor, the programs of Jacksonville, Florida,and Portland, Oregon, (1931) which he reported,"...lays great stress on laws and ordinanceswith a further consideration of the conduct ofthe officer and a few specialized subjects"; theDetroit Police School where "each recruit is subjectto a six week's course", and rated four schools,Louisville, New York, Cincinnati, and Berkeley,California, as "deserving a close scrutiny".8 After

5MuN o, W. B. MuNICdAI, Gov NmENT ANDADmINISTRATION, Note 2, p. 166.

6National Commission on Law Observance andEnforcement, REPORT ON POLICE, No. 14, June 26,1931, p. 70.

7Ibid., p. 71.8Ibid., p. 72.

reviewing the programs of the four cities justmentioned he states: "It immediately becomesobvious that the training made necessary by pres-ent-day conditions cannot be met by the oldmethods. In fact the ultimate goal is possible onlythrough two means: "State supported and controlledschools for police only; 'university cooperation".9

"Two new aspects of the work (training) havebeen recently developed in the university field,both widely divergent, but both offering splendidexamples of the new trend of schooling." Thefirst "is at Northwestern University, and is anintensive 4-week course" and the second "is thecollege course offered at San Jose (Calif.) StateTeachers' College". 0

In spite of the generally unsatisfactory stateof police training reported in the WickershamReport, possibly influenced by the report; prob-ably influenced, at least in part by Vollmer, anda few other law enforcement officials, and studentsof government; possibly because of a growingrealization on the part of law enforcement andother government officials that more attentionhad to be given to the careful selection and bettertraining of peace officers if any success was to beattained in combating the increasing crime prob-lems of the period; and probably due in no smallmeasure to the influence of a new leader in lawenforcement, John Edgar Hoover, who in 1924was appointed Director of the Federal Bureauof Investigation, in the twenty year period between1920 and 1940 both interest and activity increasedin all types of in-service and pre-service law en-forcement training.

In 1927 the chiefs of police of Wisconsin askedthe State University to organize some form oftraining for their officers. This program, whichwas provided by the Extension Division of theUniversity of Wisconsin, was not pre-employmenttraining, but was similar to the "zone" schoolsystem developed by the State Police in New York.However, this program was discontinued in 1931when Dr. Barry accepted a position in Chicagoas head of the Juvenile Detention Home.

"In 1929 the University of Chicago establishedthe second type of police training. This was anentirely different system from the plan used inWisconsin. August Vollmer, Chief of Police ofBerkeley, California, was brought to the Univer-

9 Ibid., p. 79. (Italics added.)10 Ibid., pp. 83-84.

GEORGE H. BRERETON

sity as Professor of Police Administration in thePolitical Science Department.

"The training as organized by Professor Vollmerwas divided into two parts. In the Autumn quarterthere was given a course on Police Administrationwhich included the general principles of organiza-tion and control of police departments; variousmethods of selecting, training, and distributingthe men, etc. Police Procedure was taught duringthe Winter quarter. This included lectures oncriminal investigation, identification, etc. In addi-tion to the above two courses, during each quartera seminar was conducted two hours each week inwhich specific research projects were carried outby the students.

"Although the University of Chicago offeredopportunities for the training of police officersalready in departments, its primary aim was thetraining of college students interested in policeadministration. This program was different fromthat of the University of Wisconsin as it embodiedthe idea of eventually establishing police serviceand training on a professional status. It is, how-ever, impossible to cover the entire police field inan intensive manner through the efforts of oneinstructor. Although it was a progressive develop-ment, the University of Chicago could not offerall the instruction which would be necessary tograduate a student well grounded in various phasesof police work. This program was also discontinuedin the spring of 1930 when Vollmer resigned andreturned to his former position as chief of policeat Berkeley.""

Shortly after returning to Berkeley, AugustVollmer accepted a professorship in police adminis-tration at the University of California. There underProfessor Samuel May, Director of the Bureauof Public Administration, a program was inau-gurated in 1931 where students were trained in thegeneral field of public administration, "of whichpolice courses constituted but one phase of theirinstruction... actual training in police work (atthat time) ... was restricted to one course of threehours per week" which was taught by Vollmerthroughout the school year and "four hours ofseminar work" covering police and other fields ofpublic administration.

12

While we are considering this period it should

" GEORGE H. BRERETON, Police Training in Collegeand University, AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLICEScIENcE, Vol. 3, Jan.-Feb. 1932, No. 1, pp. 65-66.

12 This program continued to grow and in 1950 a Schoolof Criminology was established.

be mentioned that in the year 1929 the CaliforniaState Lesislature amended the act which hadcreated the State Bureau of Criminal Identifica-tion and Investigation and made it the duty ofthe Board of Managers of the Bureau "to arrangefor and organize schools at convenient centers fortraining peace officers". 3 Although no immediateaction resulted from this legislation, since noappropriation accompanied the enactment of thelaw, it does indicate the wide-spread interest ofCalifornia law enforcement officers in the subjectof training as this legislation was enacted at therequest of the State Sheriffs' District Attorneys'and Peace Officers' Associations-it was in effectthe "springboard" from which in 1935 the "Cali-fornia Plan for Peace Officer Training" waslaunched.

The establishment of the police program at theState College, San Jose, California on September24, 1930, has already been mentioned, howeverit may be of interest to know that this was "... thefirst organized undergraduate program of trainingfor prospective policemen". 14

Between the years 1929 and 1931 the Universityof Southern California developed still anothertype of police training. Under Dean Emory E.Olson, of the School of Citizenship and PublicAdministration, a combination of extension andregular university courses were developed. InSeptember 1929 the first "after hour" in-servicepolice courses were taught at the University'sCivic Center School to regularly employed peaceofficers. "Full time students first were in attend-ance on the main campus in 1930. Certificateswere offered in 1931, bachelor's degrees in 1932,and master's in 1933".'5 Here we find definitecourses not only for meeting conditions of thepresent, but also with a view to the future in turn-ing out men with a college education who havehad instruction in the police field". 16

During 1931-32 the Scientific Crime DetectionLaboratory, which has been mentioned previously,gave, in each year, one-month courses in the scien-tific aspects of criminal investigation and iden-tification, which were well prepared and wellattended. However, as anyone will realize if theyexamine the courses which were offered, no student

"3CALIFORNIA PENAL CODE, Sec. 11008.14 MUNICIPAL POLICE ADMINISTRATION, 4th Edition

1954, p. 210.15THE DAILY TROJAN, University of Southern

California, June 16, 1939.16 GEORGE H. BERExT N, op. cit., p. 67.

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PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

who did nothave extensive experience or consider-able training in natural sciences, could do littlemore during the one-month session than obtainan appreciation of the value and of the problemsinvolved in scientific crime detection.

During 1930-31 Willamette University, con-ducted a course of one week's duration for thepolice officers of the State of Oregon."

Also in 1931 through the efforts of 0. W. Wilson,then Chief of Police of Wichita, the Kansas Leagueof Municipalities established a one-week trainingschool at Wichita for the peace officers of Kansas.Although not connected with any" educationalinstitution, this school deserves mention for itswell planned curricula, selection of instructors,and general, management of accommodations forvisiting officers.

In addition to those programs previously men-tioned, in 1935 a well planned and well organizedpre-employment training program was establishedat Michigan State College at East Lansing, Michi-gan, and in this same year the National PoliceAcademy was established in the Federal Bureauof Investigation.

Director J. Edgar Hoover, addressing the In-ternational Association of Chiefs of Police at theirForty-second annual Convention at Atlantic City,New Jersey, on July 9, 1935, said: "With the open-ing date set for July 29th and with the beginningto be made on a limited scale until we have passedthe experimental state, the Attorney Generalhopes to provide in this Police Training School auniversity of police nethods which may make theBureau's most successful methods a part of theregulation police procedure in every part of theUnited States. Selected police officials from stateand local units may here receive a complete threemonth's course of intensive study in the tech-nique of modem law enforcement." 8

By the beginning of this same year "well or-ganized and equipped in-service schools were oper-ating in the police departments of Wichita, In-dianapolis, Cincinnati, Chicago, Berkeley, Louis-ville, San Francisco, New York City, and a fewother cities". 19

It was also in 1925 that representatives fromthe Peace Officers' Association of the State of

17 OUTmNE or COURSE, POLICE SCHOOL, Mar. 9-14,1931, Willamette University College of Law, Salem,Oregon.

18J. EDGAR HOOVER, address to 42nd Annual Con-vention of IACP, July 8-11, 1935. PROCEEDINGS, p. 60.

19 V, A. LEONARD, POLICE ORGANIZATION AND MAN-AGEMENT, 1951, p. 138.

California contacted Mr. John C. Beswick, Chiefof the Bureau of Trade and Industrial Education,State Department of Education, and he suggesteda plan whereby state and federal funds might beused to establish a general police training program.In October, Mr. Beswick presented this plan tomembers of the Peace Officers' Association at theirannual meeting in Marysville, California, and anadvisory committee was appointed to work outthe necessary details. The state advisory com-mittee was composed of five men-the HonorableEarl Warren, then Attorney General of California,now Chief Justice of the United States, SheriffEugene Biscailuz, of Los Angeles County, Chiefof Police William J. Quinn, of San Francisco,Clarence S. Morrill, Chief of the Bureau of Crimi-nal Identification and Investigation, and Mr.Beswick. "After its organization the committeeduring 1936 and 1937 held a series of conferencesin fourteen zones into which the state had beendivided." These conferences were "for the purposeof acquainting the sheriffs, district attorneys,chiefs of police, and other peace officers with the'proposed' training program and also to demon-strate to these local officers teaching techniquesand procedures used in vocational education."20

The California Plan for Peace Officers' Train-ing originally provided for the development offour types of training schools; the departmentaltraining school, the zone training school, the sum-mer school, or "Peace Officers' Technical Insti-tutes", and the pre-employment training school.In conjunction with, or in addition to the four"schools" peace officers were given instructionin teacher training and training in leading con-ferences."s

Since 1946, two additional types of schoolshave been added: (1) The Basic Training Schoolfor Officers with less than three year's experience,which is operated in two locations, one at theDiablo Valley College in Northern California andone at the Riverside County Sheriff's TrainingCenter in Southern California, and (2) The PeaceOfficers' Administrative Institute. "The BasicTraining School program consists of a total of 218hours, while the Administrative Institute is a

20 G. H. BRExETON, The California Plan for PeaceOfficers'. Training, JoUvRAL or CIm nAL LAW ANDCmmnoLoGy, Vol. 30, No. 3, Sept.-Oct., 1939, p.371. Also see MUNICIPAL POLICE ADnmrTnRTioN op.cit., pp. 192-193.

21 G. H. BPEREToN, op. cit., pp. 371-372.

GEORGE H. BRERETON

three-day program for top-grade administratorsor supervisors in law enforcement."' '

It should also be mentioned that "the passage ofthe George-Deen Act by Congress in 1936" addedimpetus, in some areas to law enforcement train-ing. As a result of a request received from ChiefL. V. Jenkins, Portland, Oregon, then Presidentof the International Association of Chiefs ofPolice, a bulletin Training for Police Service wasprepared and issued by the United States Office ofEducation. The first draft of this bulletin was pre-pared by 0. D. Adams, Director of VocationalEducation for the State of Oregon. Concerningthe importance of training, the writers in thispublication said: "Without in any way discountingthe importance of the selection of personnel, theeffects of the merit system, adequate salaries,and other items of personnel administration, itmay fairly be stated that an efficient police trainingprogram is one of the principal means for increasingand maintaining a high degree of efficiency in lawenforcement work."' n

To close this part of my discussion concerningthe development of law enforcement trainingduring the first forty years of the twentieth cen-tury, it is apropos (of this meeting) to state thatin September 1941 "the Department of PoliceScience and Administration was organized atWashington State College, Pullman, Washington... Under its Director, Dr. V. A. Leonard, thedepartments offers to qualified students who seeka career in the law enforcement field, four years ofprofessional police training which lead to theBachelor of Science Degree and gives full academicrecognition to the professional requirement of thepolice service" .24

We have seen that by the beginning of the 1940'sapparently great progress had been. made in theeducation and training of law enforcement per-sonnel. Starting at an early date, by 1928, manyState Police had not only developed compara-tively good training programs for their own per-sonnel, but had also made available their facilitiesand instructors to local law enforcement agencies.

22 See California Program for Peace Officers' Train-ing, State Department of Education, Bureau of In-dustrial Education, Sacramento, 1958 and Law Enforce-ment Training in California, Calif. Peace Officer Train-ing Publication No. 72, Calif. State Dept. of Education,Sacramento, 1959.

23 TRAINING FOR POLIcE SERvIcE, 1938, U. S.Dept. of Interior Office of Education, Voc. Div. Bul-letin No. 197, p. 3. (Italics added.)

24 V. A. LEONARD, POLICE ORGANIZATION AND

MANAGEmEzNT, 1951, p. 429.

Individual police departments, in various areasthroughout the country had developed their owntraining schools and "academies", at least someof which had good reputations. A few collegesand universities had become interested in pro-viding either in-service, pre-employment, or bothtypes of law enforcement training, to students,or to peace officers in their localities. The FederalBureau of Investigation had developed its NationalPolice Academy and was training officers selectedfrom law enforcement agencies throughout theentire country. The United States Office of Edu-cation, as a result of liberalization of the law byCongress, was not only assisting, but encouragingthe training of law, enforcement officers by offeringfinancial and teaching assistance through its voca-tional representatives, in various types of trainingprograms. "Organized police training programs(had) been developed in many states on a state-wide, zone, or local basis. 25

From what has been said it would appear thattraining peace officers was a "booming business",its need had been recognized, and the idea thatit was necessary to have an intelligent, well edu-cated, trained law enforcement officer, was uni-versally accepted throughout the entire UnitedStates.26 I am sorry to say that such is not thetruth.

In spite of all of the effort which had been putforth by many law enforcement officials and edu-cators; in spite of outstanding examples of thevalue of trainfig and education to be found in anumber of departments, colleges, and universities;in spite of the assistance and leadership offeredby the Federal Bureau of Investigation and theUnited States Office of Education through itsVocational Division; in spite of the encourage-ment, information, and publicity, concerning theneed for and benefits of law enforcement trainingdisseminated by many national associations suchas the International Association of Chiefs ofPolice, the International City Managers' Associa-tion, the American Municipal Association andnumerous state associations of police, sheriffs,

25'TRAINING FOR PUBLIC SERVICE OCCUPATIONS,

United States Department of Interior, Office of Educa-tion 1937, Vocational Education, Bulletin No. 192,pp. 8-9.

2pTbid., p. 63 "In cooperation with state municipalleagues, instruction was given to police officers inArkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Ken-tucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Okla-homa, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia,and Wisconsin."

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PROFESSIONALIZATION OF LAW ENFORCEMENT

district attorneys, etc.; in spite of the books, themany articles and reports which had been writtenconcerning the subject-in 1949 Bruce Smithwrote that "even the most casual observer ofpolice training facilities must be impressed bytheir confused relationship and by the chaoticdisturbances which afflict them at frequent in-tervals. Even today, entire states are without asingle police training unit worthy of the name,and others with police schools conducted on sucha casual basis, and for such brief and uncertainperiods as to have little influence in raising thegeneral level of police service. In most instances,the fault lies in the fact that small forces cannotsupport training facilities of any kind, and thateven in some of the larger police establishmentsrecruits are inducted at irregular and unpredict-able intervals."'2

In the same year that Bruce Smith's book waspublished, August Vollmer wrote, concerning policetraining: "The number of hours spent in trainingrecruits will vary, of course, from city to city.In some communities a few days field work underthe supervision of an older officer or sergeant maybe all the preliminary training that the neophytewill receive before he is thrust upon the publicas a fully prepared official capable of handlingall of the problems that require police attention,on the other hand three months intensive trainingis the rule in some cities."2s

"There is a persistent but false belief, sharedby the public and the police, that practical ex-perience gained in the traditional procedure suffi-dently enables the policeman to deal with all ofthe crime and the behavior problems that arepresented to the police for solution. It will sufficeto say that this erroneous idea has postponed theday when professional standards will be establishedfor entrance into the police service."29

With reference to pre-service training by police,Vollmer, in 1949 selected Washington State Col-lege, Michigan State College, San Jose State andFresno State Colleges in California, the Universityof California at Berkeley, and the University ofIndiana, as "trail-blazing" institutions which"will probably be followed by others when thepublic becomes fully conscious of the values to bederived from a socialized and professionalized po-lice service.*... One of the by-products of police

2 BRucE SrmH, POLICE SxSTMS IN TIE UNITEDSTATES, 1949, p. 296.

28 AUGUST VOT.T.ER, TnE CPa.mqAL, 1949, p. 354.29 Ibid., p. 365. (Italics added.)

pre-service training, is the opportunity that itaffords to eliminate, during the school period,those candidates who may be morally, mentally,physically, or temperamentally unsuited for policework".n0

"What is sorely needed in this country areSchools of Criminology with curricula suited tothe requirements of students who intend to preparefor entry into one of the several branches of lawenforcement. Because there is a dearth of factualmaterial to guide them in their decisions, legislatorsshould insist that state-supported colleges mustcreate Schools of Criminology.... When grad-uates in sufficient number become available, thelawmakers should enact legislation which wouldestablish professional standards for entrance intoevery branch of law enforcement.3'

Two years after August Vollmer made his morerecent observations and recommendations con-cerning the need for establishing college trainingof law enforcement officers, and state legislationwhich would establish professional standards forlaw enforcement officers, Dr. V. A. Leonard,Chairman of the Washington State College, De-partment of Police Science, also emphasized "theneed for the establishment of professional cur-ricula in universities and colleges affording specifictraining of men and women for entry into thisstrategic branch of the public service" and statedthat ". . .police entrance standards must providefor the selection of men possessing a superiordegree of intelligence in order to assure satis-factory performance in positions to which thecandidate may advance later".n

With reference to in-service training and regionalin-service training schools, Leonard, althoughnaming a number of colleges and universities"who have made notable contribution to the or-ganization of in-service training facilities on a zoneor regional basis", said, "in general, however,regional in-service training schools have not meas-ured up to the results anticipated by their spon-sors and their failure to meet the training needsof the police becomes increasingly manifest. Theshort sessions of from three days to three monthsare inadequate".n

"In-service training was never intended norcan it be expected to train a man professionally

3Ibid., p. 373.1 Ibid., p. 373.32 V. A. LEONAiD, Poracx ORGANIZATION & MAN'-

AGEMENT, 1951, pp. 108-109.'3 Ibid., p. 148.

GEORGE H. BRERETON

for a given field ... the position of the police isthat of a profession, it is not a trade. The basicfunction of in-service training is to help profession-ally trained men keep abreast of new develop-ments in the field. To expect more is to courtfailure.

34

Basically, Dr. Leonard's statements with refer-ence to in-service training are correct, particularlyconcerning its primary objectives of upgrading,or presenting specialized or refresher courses topersonnel who are assumed to have had basiclaw enforcement training. However, we cannotoverlook the fact that in the absence of mandatoryrequirements that all law enforcement officerscomplete an adequate pre-service training program,prior to employment in law enforcement agencies,in-service training no matter how abbreviated, doessome good, and a well planned and organizedin-service training program is not only valuable,but necessary. In addition to these facts it isbelieved that geographic expansion of in-servicetraining, has had, and will continue to have avery important effect upon the acceleration andthe demand for pre-service law enforcementtraining.35

On the other hand, supporting the belief thatin-service training is only a "stop-gap" until wereach the ultimate goal of universal college pre-service law enforcement training and certificationbefore employment, Charles F. Sloane, formerNew York State Trooper, has said that "the at-tempts made to train our police in in-servicetraining schools, held sporadically with sessionsof two to three hours a day for several days, withattendance at the sessions the only criteria forreceiving diplomas, is a totally inadequate methodof teaching police work .... In-service training

schools staffed with competent instructors canbe of value to police departments in impartingvarious skills and knowledges to men after properindoctrination into the police field via full-time,comprehensive recruit training schools, if propersafeguards are maintained at such sessions and

34 Ibid., p. 150.See FRANK M. BOOLSEN, DRECTORY OF UNIVER-

sInT & COLLEGE CRIMINOLOGY PROGRAMS, 1950 andA. C. GEasmAn, Law Enforcement, Education & Train-ing in the United States, THE POLICE CHIEF, Oct.1957, pp. 22, 24, 26, 28, also see G. DOUGLAS GOURLEY,In-Service Training of Policemen by University &Colleges, THE JomNAL OF CRIMNAL LAW, CEnunhoL-OGY & PoLIcE ScIENCE, Vol. 44, No. 2, July-Aug.1952, pp. 220-340, incl.

diplomas awarded only to those candidates whosuccessfully pass written examinations." 36

"The only reasonable solution to the problemof training recruits, is for the various states tocreate training schools for police conducted byeach state and manned by competent instructorpersonnel drawn from police departments, collegesand private industry."-r

I am sure that no one will disagree that J. EdgarHoover, from the time of his appointment in 1924as Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,until the present, has been an outstanding leaderin the professionalization of law enforcement andin the field of training. In an interview in 1954he had this to say relative to its importance:"The efficiency of law enforcement today is com-mensurate with the degree of training of its officers.Only through modern police training can we keepabreast of the times in the uncreasing fight againstlawlessness... police work by untrained men... isas obsolete as the practice of medicine by sor-cery.

38

"Although the FBI is a federal law enforcementagency concerned only with the investigation ofcrimes coming under its jurisdiction ... the ideal-ism, the ability, the selection, the training, the leader-ship, the integrity, and the education of the Directorand his Special Agents has been an inspirationto every sincere law enforcement officer who hasstriven or who is striving for the same goals inhis own organization and has made a lasting im-pression upon both the police service and thepublic citizen." 39

NEED FOR "PROFESSIONALS" IN LAWENFORCEMENT

During the sixty-year period under considera-tion we have seen a gradual but generally increas-ing interest in and development of law enforce-ment training. Although this has not beenconstant, and from time to time, as indicated byvarious writers of the period, it has temporarily

H CHRLEs F. SLOANE, State Academies for Police,-JOURNAL OF CRnaNAL LAW, CR.IINOLOGY & POLICESCIENCE, Vol. 45, No. 6, Mar.-Apr., 1955, p. 730.

1 Ibid. pp. 730-731; and A. F. BRANDsTETrER,Director, School of Police Administration and PublicSafety, Michigan State College, Michigan's Answerto Its Law Enforcement Training Needs, THE POLICEYEAR Boox, IACP, 1958, p. 35.

H ALBERT DEUTSCH, Is Your Police Force Obsolete?COLLIERS, October 1, 1954.39 GEORGE H. BRBMRTON, Police Work Is A Profes-

sion, CALIFoRNIA PEACE OFFICER, Jan.-Feb., 1955,Vol. 5, No. 3, p. 24.

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declined in some areas and in certain departments,particularly during the past twenty years, andmore so in the last ten years, "slowly but withincreasing emphasis and momentum, the move-ment is growing to elevate educational require-ments for the law enforcement vocation".A

Influenced in no small degree by the personswhom I have previously mentioned and otherpolice administrators, educators, and writers, andby the activities and/or the reports of associationsand crime investigation committees, the goalestablished today, by a great many leaders in thefield of law enforcement, is complete professionaliza-lion of the law enforcement service.

Although a few individuals, recognized at anearly date that the demands placed on law en-forcement and the variety of the duties and knowl-edge required of its officers, seemed to indicatethe eventual requirement that all officers wouldhave a college education in law enforcementprior to their employment,4' it has only been incomparatively recent years that so many lawenforcement officials and educators are in agree-ment that law enforcement is, or should be, aprofession, and that in order to attain such statusit is necessary that the education and training ofthe law enforcement officer be comparable to thatrequired of a number of other "professions"."Certainly", says Dr. Germann, "a four-yeartechnical education is not necessary for a youngman who wishes a law enforcement career at thepatrolman level, and who will pursue it accordingto traditional fashion... It is the broad educationof the police officer that is important as long aspolice leadership is 'up from the ranks'."4'

Although there are, no doubt, many writerswhose thoughts concerning professionalizationhave not come to my attention, there are a fewstatements written in recent years, particularlyduring and since 1954, which are worth repeating.

In Municipal Police Administration, publishedin 1954 by the International City Managers'

'" A. C. GERUANN, Law Enforcement Education,op. cit., p. 22.

4t MRS. JOIN P. BUALDA, Director of the 1st Instituteof Police Administration at Riverside, California 1929,said: "It is an amazing thing that we maintain Annapo-lis and West Point to train officers against a possibleforeign aggressor and that we have no comparabletraining for our officers in the war against crime, whichis a constant thing, costing infinitely more." Proceed-ings of the 1st Institute of Police Administration, No.12-13, 1929, in Occasional Papers of Riverside Jr.,College, Vol. 5, No. 1, March 1930, p. 41.42A. C. GERmANN, op. cit., p. 22.

Association, we find the following statement:"Police work today is approaching the status of aprofession. While it may be years before this ob-jective is achieved the educational preparation andon-the-job training of police officers will materiallycontribute to it".41 In a subsequent section thewriter also says "... advanced in-service lawenforcement training such as that at the Universityof Southern California, holds great promise forultimate professionalization of police service"."

Albert Deutsch writing in the October 1, 1954issue of Collier's Magazine, although extremelycritical of law enforcement training in many policedepartments, said: "The whole professionalizingprocess presages a period, not distant when thepoliceman, the keeper of the peace, will possessthe dignified and rewarding status long withheldfrom an honorable public vocation ... with thelag in training, it is remarkable that so many menand women of professional caliber are already inpolice work".

45

However, taking sharp issue with "the writingsof so many 'police experts' that members of policeforces are now either on the verge of entering the'police profession', or have already entered throughan open door and are accepted as professionalmen.., that the only method by which policework, in its entirety, can ever hope to attain thestatus of a profession is to squarely face the factsconcerned therein, set the goal and then, step bystep, eliminate the obstacles confronting them".46

Sloane points out the fact that although the"... professions all require a minimum of fouryears of college.., the minimum requirementsin the police field today (1954) vary.., from'graduation from high school' to as low as abilityto read and write the English language' ".4

Granted that there is a low, and a wide rangein minimum educational requirements for entranceto the lay enforcement profession, and that thereare difficult obstacles, such as residential restric-tions, apathy, fear of being supplanted, jealousy ofanother's accomplishments, and desire for politicalcontrol or patronage to overcome, it was not toomany years ago that the only requirement forpracticing the profession of law was to hang outone's shingle!

41 Op. cit., p. 187. (Italics added.)4 Ibid. p. 78. (Italics added.)41 ALBERT D-uTscH, op. cit.46

CHARLES F. SLOANE, Police Professionalization,JouRNAL OF CRanhNAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICESCIENCE, Vol. 45, No. 1, May-June 1954, pp. 77-78.4TIbid., p. 78.

GEORGE H. BRERETON

Dr. Germann, who received his police experi-ence in the Los Angeles Police Department,names "... . some twenty professional groups, in-cluding law, medicine, engineering, architecture,teaching, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, etc...which have set minimum academic requirements... to improve the quality and economic statusof their practitioneers in order to protect the pub-lic, and in order to enhance their professionalstatus... the police service well-deserves thedignity and status that such accredited programsgive". "It is interesting to note.., that in theState of Michigan the profession of pharmacyhas progressed in 30 years from NO educationalrequirements to a SIX YEAR training require-ment."4'

Chief of Police Fred Hess, of Bloomfield, NewJersey, agreed in 1957 that "Police service maywell not be considered as a profession until suchtime as well developed training programs areprovided for the police that are comparable tothose that prepare persons for the recognizedprofessions". 49 But Chief Benard C. Brannon, ofKansas City, Missouri, in the same year said:"We all know that the demands upon the police-man are so varied and great that his work hasascended to a true professional calling of its own,one that matches any of the honorable professionsin the need for exceptional study and trainingrequisites for membership... The policeman didnot create this new profession; it was thrust uponhim. Proof that he did not create the new profes-sion is that in large measure he does not, and isnot prepared to discharge the duties of his office.This is not to disparage our current efforts, but isonly a frank acknowledgement of the existence ofa taxing and challenging profession without suf-ficient professional people to practice it".50 "Thecombination of two factors is necessary for ourprofessional success: (1) We must create the desireon the part of young people to study policing, (2)we must persuade our colleges and universitiesto establish law enforcement curriculums andassist them in their endeavors."-"

Inspector H. Ashenhurst, of the Dallas, Texas,Police Department says: "If we analyze the pro-

's A. C. GESmANN, op. cit., p. 24.49 FpmD HEss, Police Training in Small Communities,

JoURNAL OF CIuiNA. LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICEScIENCE, Vol. 49, No. 1, p. 75.

0 BENARD C. BANNoN, Into Tomorrow, (addressto 64th Annual Convention IACP, Honolulu, 1957) THEPOLICE YEAR BOOK, 1958, p. 26:

15 Ibid., p. 28.

fessions we find that a first requirement is train-ing... the second requirement to be met beforeentering a profession is a license or certificate basedon standards of competence.., this is where werun into a major difficulty in the police profes-sion .... The third requirement is one which iswithin our grasp, we need a Code of Ethics ac-cepted by all members of our profession... weneed some means of seeing that this code is notviolated.., we have a Code of Ethics adoptedby the IACP, by the National Conference ofPolice Associations and by hundreds of others ....It can be adopted by every police department.If can be enforced by each chief of police.""

In California, for many years, we have promotedthe upgrading of officers by training, as well asthrough other means. In making this statement,I do not wish to imply that similar activities havenot been taking place in other states, nor that wehave reached the goal which has been indicatedby Inspector Ashenhurst. We do have the sameCode of Ethics to which he referred, but I cannotsay whether or not it has been adopted by each ofour 362 police departments. It has been adoptedby some of them and has been adopted by ourState Peace Officers' and our State Sheriffs' Asso-ciations.

In training we have made great progress, bothin the in-service and pre-service fields. However,it should be realized that there is still a difficultuphill road to travel before officers will be requiredto possess a certificate to practice the professionof law enforcement as is now required of thosepersons in other professions. Although many of ourlaw enforcement agencies do require a minimumeducation of graduation from high school, or itsequivalent, and a few give credit for additionaleducation, we are still a long way from the goalof a college diploma.

In recent years much thought, discussion, andattention has been given to the establishment ofminimum standards for our California law en-forcement officers. Particularly through the effortsof the Peace Officers' Research Association ofCalifornia, and the Peace Officers' Association ofthe State of California, an attempt was made,starting in 1954, to establish a "Professional LawEnforcement Act" within the Business and Pro-fessional Code of California which would have

52 PAuL H. ASHENHuEsT, The Goal: A Police Profes-sion, JouRNA oF CmnriNAL LAW AND CRIMINOLOGYAN POLICE SCIENCE, Vol. 49, No. 6, Mar.-April,1959, pp. 605-607.

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established minimum standards and provided acertificate or license for the law enforcement officerwho could meet these standards. A "MinimumStandards Bill", which was prepared and intro-duced in the. 1957 session of the State Legislaturewas defeated by the League of California Citiesand the State Supervisors' Association becauseof its mandatory provisions pertaining to policeand sheriffs' departments and alleged interferencewith "home rule". However, in the 1959 regularsession a California Peace Officers' Standards andTraining Act, (Chapter 1823, Statutes, 1959,Penal Code Sec. 13500-13523) was passed by theLegislature, with the support and assistance of theLeague of California Cities, since cities and coun-ties are not required to participate in the program,but may do so on an optional basis.

This Act established a Peace Officers' TrainingFund, the money for which comes from 5% assess-ment on all fines collected by California courtsfor criminal offenses, except fines collected fortraffic or fish and game violations. The fund,which is administered by a Commission of ninemembers and an Executive Secretary, is to beused for training purposes, under rules establishedby the commission. This program, although justgetting started, appears to offer considerablepromise that law enforcement will receive in-creased upgrading in the near future.

To close this discussion I shall outline therequirements which are apparently necessary iflaw enforcement is to achieve recognition as aprofession.

1. Satisfactory completion of a four-yearcollege course in law enforcement training,leading to a Bachelor's Degree. (Physical,

mental and other types of screening shouldtake place here.)

2. Possession of a certificate, issued upon stateauthority by a Board or Commission, basedupon an examination, attesting to the factthat the applicant is qualified and is trainedin law enforcement.

3. Elimination of all local residence require-ments within a state for employment of such"qualified" personnel. (Residence require-ments are outmoded, and in a number of ourlargest police departments in California, i.e.,Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego,are no longer required of an applicant foremployment.)

4. Establishment of the requirement, whensufficient "certificated" recruits are available,(which should include not only the minimumeducation but also the experience requiredfor the particular position) by all towns,cities, and counties, that all persons who areto be employed in law enforcement betrained and in supervisory positions, betrained as indicated in #1.

5. Development of a professional "career"class of law enforcement officers receivingsalaries, retirement and other benefits whichare commensurate with the education, duties,and responsibilities demanded of the pro-fession. (Opportunities for advancement inthe police field should be just as available tocapable police administrators, as they are topenologists, city managers, engineers, financeofficers, educators, and many others in thepublic service.)

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