Robert Peel referred to the need for a professionally trained police force for London in 1829. The first real emphasis on professional training and education for police in this country came from Augus

Robert Peel referred to the need for a professionally trained police force for London in 1829. The first real emphasis on professional training and education for police in this country came from August Vollmer, the father of modern policing. As long ago as 1916, he proposed that police have college degrees. In 1931, the Wickersham Commission (National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement) gave national recognition to the need for increased educational standards for the police. Years later in 1967, one of the recommendations of the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice was that all police personnel with general enforcement powers have baccalaureate degrees. This was, of course, presented as "an ultimate" rather than an immediate, goal. The LEAA (Law Enforcement Assistance Administration) began to emphasize the need for officers to attend college at this time as well, going so far as to implement a grant system for individuals who were or planned to be police officers upon graduation (LEEP). Yet Gaines & Kappeler (2014) note that in 2007, 82% of local police departments required only a high school diploma for new officers, and only 1% of departments required a 4-year college degree (p.131). 

A. What should be the minimum education requirement for new officers? E.g. high school/GED, some college, 2-year degree, 4-year degree? (Note, if college, it does not have to be a criminal justice or criminology degree).

B. Use at least one SCHOLARLY source (e.g. peer-reviewed journal article) to provide support for your answer. 

C. Provide both parenthetical references (in-text citations) for the information in your answer, and the complete citations in a reference list (see the APA Ref/Citation Help button on the BB menu).