Police education, experience, and the use of force

    Authors

    E. A. Paoline;W. Terrill

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    Crim. Justice Behav.

    Keywords

    police; college education; experience; coercion; use of force; COLLEGE-EDUCATION; PATROL OFFICERS; PERFORMANCE; VARIABLES; Psychology, Clinical; Criminology & Penology

    Abstract

    Police researchers have devoted a considerable amount of empirical attention to testing the impact college education has on police performance. The counterargument to the education debate is that experience, in learning the police craft, is what contributes to differences in performance. The current study adds to both lines of research by examining the impact of education and experience on one of the core features of the police role: the use of coercion. The findings indicate that varying levels of education and experience are related to differences in the use of coercion in encounters with citizens. Encounters involving officers with any college education result in significantly less verbal force compared to those with a high school education. However, only those encounters involving officers with a 4-year degree result in significantly less physical force. Finally, encounters involving officers with greater experience result in less verbal and physical force.

    Journal Title

    Criminal Justice and Behavior

    Volume

    34

    Issue/Number

    2

    Publication Date

    1-1-2007

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    179

    Last Page

    196

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000243847100002

    ISSN

    0093-8548

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