Annotated Bibliography - draft, 3 sources

Works Cited

McDermott, Peter J., and Diana Hulse, Ed.D. "Focus on Training: Corrective Feedback in Police Work." FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (2012): n. pag. Www.fbi.gov. Federal Bureau of Investigation, June 2012. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

This article details the curriculum for the average Police Academy in the United States. The differences between college education and Police Academy education are highlighted. In the Police Academy, new recruits learn in areas such as, tactical skills, communication, human interactions, and proper documentation skills. New recruits have to take what they learn in the classroom and in training and be able to use it and perform well on the job. They will use their education for everyday things such as motor vehicle stops and criminal investigations. The article focuses on Corrective Feedback which is used by Field Training Officers (FTOs) as a way to teach new recruits and let them know that they are doing something wrong and how they should fix it.

This source is definitely credible because it is published by the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin which is a very well-known source. The FBI has the best stats regarding law enforcement and law enforcement training. This author of this article does a good job of analyzing how new recruits are taught in the academy, how they apply what they learn, and how it differs from a criminal justice education.

This article will be very good for looking at some of the distinct differences between a Police Academy education and a Criminal Justice education in a college setting. I chose this article because it shows exactly how new officers are taught. The focus of this article is Corrective Feedback given by training officers to the trainee. The focus on Corrective Feedback is actually good because it shows one of the teaching techniques of the Academy which can be compared to that of a Criminal Justice degree in a college.

Buerger, Michael. "Educating And Training The Future Police Officer." FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin 73.1 (2004): 26. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 27 Mar. 2013.

            This article emphasizes the importance of college education and Police training working together. If the two work together and COMMUNICATE then it would make for more rounded and cohesive education. The author hits on the point that in a “perfect” system, the college education would prepare individuals and the college education would feed into the Police Academy education. This article also addresses the issue of whether or not a college degree (Criminal Justice) is really necessary. A quote that I pulled from the article actually says that a 4-year Bachelor’s degree is becoming a necessary job requirement. The issue of how a degree directly relates, and what a Police Officer might do with or use a degree in his/her career is addressed. The author says that experiential learning in the Police Academy is the best way for a Police Officer to learn. The last point that the author made is that of the struggle that the Criminal Justice discipline has had. Even today the field of Criminal Justice is looked down upon as unnecessary and simple.

The reason that the degree in the Criminal Justice degree has seemed rather useless is because of a major lack of communication and cooperation. Students will learn a variety of things in their college education and then go and learn some of the same things in the Police Academy. At the same time some of the vital things that a new recruit should learn are left out, sometimes because it is assumed that they have learned those things in college. The author wonders whether or not a college education is really necessary. If the college education wasn’t a requirement, then we wouldn’t have to worry about a lack of communication. Police Academies could increase their curriculum and students would definitely learn everything they need and they wouldn’t have to pay for a costly degree. Why would anyone want to get a degree that they don’t really need? The issue of the validity of the Criminal Justice degree in the College environment is addressed. People sometimes see Criminal Justice as a useless field. It goes back to the beginning when colleges offered “Handcuffing 101” as a class for Criminal Justice majors. Sometimes people look at those in this field and wonder why one would spend so much money on a degree when they are going to learn a lot of the same things in the Academy.

This article is going to be a very good source because it addresses almost all of the questions that I have. I can use this article to show why people still get a Criminal Justice degree, but also, why it isn’t really that necessary. This article is also one of the very few that analyze how people in other professions view Criminal Justice. This can be very interesting thing to look at as well as the main issues.

Tenney, Charles W., Jr. Higher Education Programs in Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice. Washington, D.C.: NILE & CJ, U.S. Department of Justice, 1971. Print.

The author says that the reason for education is to help an individual “execute his functions in the most efficient manner”. However, the author says that this education should be left up to the law enforcement agencies. This publication is heavily opinionated. The author believes that law enforcement agencies could provide enough education in their training programs to be as effective as a college education in Criminal Justice.

This publication explains the balance between college educations and the Police Academy. It explains how we need both yet it also shows how both can be rolled into one to be more efficient and cheaper for the student.

This will serve as yet another example of the balance between these two types of education. This is the second source that I have found that shows how both the college education and the Police Academy training can be one. This can be handy. I can analyze how the process of the two becoming one could work.