As a graduate with a two-year degree in Criminal Justice, I guess it would be fair to say that I would probably be considered as somewhat biased in my thinking. Going to college to study Law Enforcement really helped me from the beginning of my career. It's like learning the fundamentals and having a grasp on how best to handle situations even before I started my job or entered the Academy. I liken it to having a leg up on others who did not attend college. I also returned 12 years later to take additional courses in criminology (forensics) and psychology.
For example, if you wanted to play basketball for your high school team, but never stepped onto a court before, it would be a good idea to learn the fundamentals, like; dribbling, passing and shooting at a lower level such as a youth team and then try out for the high school team when you are of age to do so. By learning the fundamentals first, it will give you an advantage over others who have never stepped onto a court and then decided in high school to all of a sudden to tryout for the team. Does this make sense?
I remember one of my professors telling us (the class) that we did the right thing by gaining some knowledge in law enforcement before applying for a job. He once said to the class, "If you never drove a car and wanted to learn to drive, you wouldn't go to a NASCAR race and watch how they drive, would you?" Like with any job that requires special training, it is best to learn the fundamentals first.
If I would apply for a job at a convenience store, I would probably be placed with an associate for training purposes with knowledge of the day to day way of doing and transacting business. I am sure that they wouldn't just hand me an apron and tell me that they'd see me at the end of the shift. Learning the fundamentals of any job will or should give the "trainee" a leg up over anyone who is a new hire and has never performed anything close to what they will be doing on their new job. I can just imagine me starting out as a new recruit with the State Police and all that they would do is to hand me the keys to a car, give me a uniform and a gun and say, "See you at 5:00."
The Academy is a great place to learn how the State Police operates, how they expect a Trooper to perform his-her job and how to perform his-her job, but if they have to spend an inordinate amount of time teaching Troopers how to write reports, then something else suffers because at the Academy, everyone is on a timeline. Getting things done, so everyone can move on to the next item is very important and necessary, so we can stay on time and graduate on time. Graduation date is already set even before your first day at the Academy. In that period of time a Trooper is in the Academy, the program in its entirety must be completed upon the completion date. Having some prior training or education helps to speed or keep the process on time. Some of that training can be acquired in college.
Enough pontificating.
