If state workers don't need college, why do cops?

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Gov. Tim Walz recently announced a new policy eliminating a college degree as a requirement for most state jobs. At least in part, this policy change was driven by unfilled vacancies in the state workforce.

There are many unfilled police positions nationally, in Minnesota and especially in Minneapolis. Part of the cause is the college requirement. An additional unintended consequence of this professionalization is a reduction in the proportion of officers who reflect the community and have a personal stake in its welfare. I don't have all the answers, but I know many of the questions.

We used to say, and it is still true, "the Fire Department can recruit at the barber shop." Only a high school diploma is required for firefighters. As a result, not only is Fire Department staffing not as dire, but it also better reflects the community. Since the 1970s inception of the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board and college degree requirements, very few police candidates have come from our city or any urban center.

How did we hire and train police officers before the POST Board? Many Minnesota cities and counties hired officers and deputies, provided some in-house training, put them on the street and eventually sent them to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Basic School. Obviously, that was not ideal.

Several larger agencies — Minneapolis, St. Paul and the State Patrol — put on their own recruit academies. My own MPD rookie school program was 20 weeks in duration. One benefit was that of the 29 recruits in my 1975 academy, 28 were Minneapolis residents. The five African American recruits in that class more than doubled the number of Black (and native) officers on a force of more than 800 sworn officers.

Our recruit academy, followed by field training, prepared officers pretty well to serve their community. Would this work today? I don't think so, but I am also not persuaded a college curriculum is necessary to succeed as a police officer.

In the intervening years, the complexity of police work has grown exponentially. For example, domestic abuse laws, nonexistent in 1975, have grown extremely complicated, as have DWI laws, with detailed policies and procedures required legislatively. We expect officers to be trained in mental health crisis intervention and de-escalation. Where to even begin with technological advances? The expectations of today's officers go on.

To prepare the police officers we need today I think we need more than a recruit school and less than a college curriculum. I have heard this whispered by officers, city, police leadership and city officials. A glaring current shortcoming is police officers who come to Minneapolis with no community familiarity, lacking the commitment that comes from protecting your own.

I received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota and an M.A. from St. Mary's University of Minnesota (mostly night school). I am surprised to find myself advocating for the removal of a college degree as an entry level requirement for police officers. A solid college curriculum teaches students to think critically. That is important and should be encouraged for police officers. However, I am not as persuaded a college degree should be an entry requirement, especially given the unintended consequences of the current system and the present crisis in public safety staffing.

I am not offering a prescription, but perhaps a framework. To be determined: Would Minnesota State universities provide the necessary core courses leading to a certificate vs. a college degree? Would the POST Board issue licenses based on a certificate and an examination (some of this is a legislative matter)? How is this different from the current system? An agency could hire recruits who fit their community need and sponsor their certificate completion. It is not unlike "cadet" programs some agencies currently use. It would just make that the status quo rather than an exception entry.

I was an Minneapolis deputy chief when the city was dubbed Murderapolis. In response, one year I was responsible for the hiring of 110 officers in four classes. We strove to hire for quality, numbers and diversity. Though challenging, we didn't abandon any of those objectives. We must not today.

Gregory S. Hestness is retired chief of the University of Minnesota Police Department and retired deputy chief of the Minneapolis Police Department.