Police are the most visible government servants. Incidents of police misconduct and abuse of power concern everyone in the profession, because these incidents directly and indirectly lead to loss of public trust and confidence. Anything that tarnishes the image and reputation of policing needs to be examined, and police officers at every level owe a duty to the profession to police themselves.
In the early 2000s, the IACP Police Administration Committee considered that educational level might correlate to officer misconduct. To test this hypothesis, the committee undertook a study that compared discipline data from the Florida Criminal Justice State and Training Commission (CJSTC) to officers’ education levels. Florida was chosen because it is an open-records state, and the data was readily accessible.
