Do you think law enforcement officers should be required to have law degrees?

water_skipper: Do you think law enforcement officers should be required to have law degrees?
Do you think law enforcement officers should be required to have law degrees? We don’t let lawyers practice law without learning the law first, so why do we let cops enforce the law when they haven’t learned what the law is?

Answers and Views:

Answer by shimmerunicorn
yes!

Answer by The Wise One
No – no-one should

In my humble opinion – we have too many lawyers as it is!

Peace

Answer by soccerdogg31
no they have to take classes (well atleast in pa) i am in college for this and i have been studying the laws ALOT

Answer by -metalhead-
no, because they already take law courses in training

Answer by Justin
No.

There wouldn’t be any officers then. Who would go to law school for $ 50k/year just to make $ 30k/year?

Answer by plumbean72
they don’t payem enough now.theres no way they would go and get a degree for that kind of pay

Answer by Sufi
no, that doesn’t make sense at all. we couldn’t afford cops if that were a necessity.

Answer by Improper Bostonian
They have to get a 4 year degree in criminal justice to learn law and how to enforce it.
2 totally different professions, the spectrum is totally different and much broader when going to law school to become an attorney.

Answer by Shaazaam!
Nope

Honestly what does a degree mean out on the streets? In a gun fight? Helping a kitty out of the tree?

Answer by P’rushim
…No ! …the Police Officers know how to enforce the Law just fine… it’s the Lawyers, Judges and Legislators who need to work the “midnight to eight” shift a few nights to see what goes on “out there” !

Answer by Dj Conquest
L.E.O do study and have understandings of law codes , thats how they know when a law is being broken and what and when and on what basis they can charge someone.

now, when a person wants to fight this charge they seek council/lawyers. council and lawyers are the ones who should study and specialize more in-depth about laws and , more importantly, “ways around them” thats how they make their money.

Answer by sweethope2004
Yes I think that they should, SO when they break the law we can treat them like real people b/c they know better than any one.

There are a few police that have gotten away with murder and never charged.

Answer by Larry F
I’m a correctional officer,all police officers (excluding shelter cops) need to have a valid police academy’s degree.Unless they take a police course at a local college.in order to pass the test they have to know the law and get all the questions right in order to be a police officer. same thing with sheriffs. state troopers have to be a police officer for at least 3 years in order to become a trooper.shelter cops (like in nyc) dont require the training because they provide security in shelters.

Answer by iwtblj247
Absolutely not. They learn what they need in their training. And by the way, anyone can be a lawyer who passes the bar. Law school is not a requirement.

Answer by Juliet
I don’t think you understand what you are asking. Most cops do have to go to school for criminal justice or some related field and then they all have to go to training. It would be too expensive for cops to have to go to school and get their law degrees when the average wage for a cop is $ 8-15. If they went and got their law degrees our taxes would raise very high to pay them more money. Which I do believe that cops should get paid more. I think it is ridiculous that some only get $ 8 an hour and they are risking their lives to keep our communities safe. So what you are asking is an average law degree would be approximately for 4 years about $ 60,000-100,000 versus a associates in criminal justice for about $ 5,000-9,000. I know that it might seem as some cops don’t know what they are talking about, but for the most part if I ever needed them I would call them in a heart beat.

Answer by ahsoasho2u2
No.
We have hours of training, every year, into the laws of search and seizure, arrest, the title codes for criminal and civil offenses, traffic codes etc..
Over the years, I and many officers, have assisted many new prosecutors into their field of expertise, by helping them formulate questions for a jury trial.
If all Law Enforcement had Law Degrees, then when we retired we could be attorneys, like we need more of them?
Over the many years in Law Enf, I have known quite a few officers who have gone back to school and obtained a law degree. My self I have a Para Legal Degree and have been asked why not Law School. Too old in life and wife is in bad health, but I do a lot of research, from my background, into civil and criminal law cases.

Answer by c8flowers
no, if we did we wouldn’t have a very large security force, furthermore, police officers and lawyers carry out two very differnt duties that cannot be grouped together under one roof, differnt occupations call for different qualifications

Answer by El Scott
Yes. Just as soon as they start paying us a salary for our law degrees.

We are certified as Law Enforcement Officers……..we are properly trained to do that job. We don’t need to try a case, just make one.

Answer by LEO53
If I had a law degree, I’d be a lawyer, making $ 250,000 a year

Answer by Huds
Actually, thats what half of the Police Academy is. That is why police officers needn’t have law degrees. Everything they need to know, they learn in the Academy.

Answer by mikeysco
No, and I think if we were required to have one, there would be no law enforcement officers.

You’re right about one thing; lawyers practice law.

We don’t. We enforce it. We don’t make it or even really have to interpret it, we only enforce it. You’re very mistaken when you suggest that we haven’t learned what the law is. A person can (and we do) learn what the law is without having to have a degree in it.

Answer by Unknown
No because as a cop they are forced to learn state laws in order to be a cop! They teach them in the acedemy and in the police stationed they are hired. They have to read laws and take written tests. You should really do research before you ask stupid questions. You have no idea what you are talking about.

Answer by Eric
Seriously? What do you think the academy is about? Nevermind, I don’t care what you think goes on there.

In California, it’s 26+ weeks of intense coverage Constitutional, statutory and case law as it applies to law enforcement.

Your statement is brash and assuming. Way to generalize.