Aamodt, Michael G. Research in Law Enforcement Selection. Boca Raton, Florida: Brown Walker Press, 2004.  Summarizes 330 studies investigating the validity of methods used to select law enforcement personnel. Concludes that officers with a college education perform better in the academy, receive higher performance ratings on the job, have fewer disciplinary problems, have less absenteeism, and use force less often than their peers without a college education.

American Bar Association. The Urban Police Function. By Herman Goldstein and Sheldon Krantz. Chicago, 1973.  Police need personnel in their ranks who have the characteristics a college education seeks to foster; intellectual curiosity, analytical ability, articulateness, and a capacity to relate the events of the day to the social, political, and historical context in which they occur.

U.S. National Institute of Mental Health. The Functions of the Police in a Modern Society: A Review of Background Factors, Current Practices, and Possible Role Models. By Egon Bittner. Rockville, Maryland: 1972.  Recommends a goal of a master’s degree for entering officers.

Carter, David L., Darrel W. Stephens, and Al D. Sapp. "Effect of Higher Education on Police Liability: Implications for Police Personnel Policy." American Journal of Police 8 (1989): 153–166.  Officers with college degrees are less likely than officers with less education to incur citizen complaints. Higher officer education reduces liability risks for police departments.

Cohen, Bernard, and Jan M. Chaiken. Police Background Characteristics and Performances: Summary. New York: Rand, 1972.  Study of 1,600 New York City police officers found that when education is introduced into the regression equation for civilian complaints, it emerged as the most powerful predictor of civilian complaints.

Committee on Integrity. Report to Mayor Daly. Chicago, Illinois: 1997.  Recommends bachelor’s degrees for officers to reduce corruption. The same recommendation was made for the same reason by the Royal Commission into the New South Wales Police Service (Final Report: Volume 1: Corruption, 1997).

Davis v. Dallas, 777 F.2d 205 (5th Cir. 1985).  The need for police officers who are intelligent, articulate, mature, and knowledgeable about social and political conditions is apparent. . . . [A] college education develops and imparts the requisite level of knowledge.

Finckenauer, J. O. "Higher Education and Police Discretion." Journal of Police Science and Administration 3 (December 1975).  A series of vignettes illustrating different police discretionary situations were presented to police recruits, comparing responses from college-educated and non-college-educated recruits. College-educated recruits were more likely to choose approaches not involving an arrest or other official action.

Fullerton, Ernie. "Higher Education as a Prerequisite to Employment as a Law Enforcement Officer." Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh, 2002.  Summarizes the works of ten researchers from 1967 to 1992 who found important desirable traits for officers that are achieved through college education: less cynicism, less authoritarianism, less attrition, fewer disciplinary problems, more local pride in the police department, fewer sick days, higher academic performance, more awards, higher felony arrests made, higher performance evaluations, better decision making, flexibility in problem solving, greater empathy toward minorities, less negativity toward legal restrictions, more discretion and less control-oriented, less inclined toward rigid enforcement of the law, and less support for insularity.

Kappaler, V. E., Allen D. Sapp, and David L. Carter. "Police Officer Higher Education, Citizen Complaints, and Departmental Rule Violations." American Journal of Police 11 (February 1992): 35–54.  This is a study of a midsize Midwestern police department for relationship between college graduate officers and complaints. Officers with college degrees had statistically significant fewer complaints than officers without college degrees.

President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice. Task Force Report: The Police. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1967.  It is nonsense to state or assume that the enforcement of the law is so simple that it can be done best by those unencumbered by the study of liberal arts. . . . Police agencies need personnel in their ranks who have the characteristics which a college education seeks to foster: . . . a capacity to relate the events of the day to the social, political, and historical context in which they occur.

Sanderson, B. E. "Police Officers: The Relationship of College Education to Job Performance." The Police Chief 44 (August 1977): 62–63.  College education is positively related to numerous performance indicators, including academy performance, discipline, absenteeism, terminations, and career advancement.

Tyre, Mitchell, and Susan Braunstein. "Higher Education and Ethical Policing." FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 61 (June 1992): 6–10.  Specific studies indicate that better educated officers choose more ethical actions.