Does higher education matter in policing? An examination of the promotional process to sergeant

Abstract

Abstract The police sergeant is often regarded as the most influential position in any law enforcement agency, given their direct effect on officer behaviour. As the gateway to police management, the promotion to sergeant offers an opportunity to examine the importance of the growing role of higher education in policing. In analysing the relationship between different levels of higher education and the sergeant promotional examinations, this study found that those with graduate degrees are more likely to become sergeants. While this relationship is striking, the most crucial predictor of the promotion to sergeant belongs to the dominant ethnic group in the agency. Whether in the written exam or interview components of the sergeant’s promotion process, police agencies do not appear to have captured the benefits of higher education in the first rung of the promotion to senior management. Policy implications and avenues for future research are discussed.