Assessing the law enforcement labor shortage and its effect on police officer misconduct in the State of Texas

Policing in America today faces an ever-increasing labor shortage. This is due to the aging baby boomers leaving the profession and the lack of applicants in the current market. In the State of Texas, there is a shortage of applicants that has led to departments either recruiting non-college degree holding applicants or, for those few police departments that had the requirement of a college degree for employment, to drop the standard to a high school diploma (or GED) in order to draw applicants. As a result, the State of Texas has experienced on-going cases of officer misconduct, licensure suspensions, and revocations---particularly for those officers who do not hold baccalaureate degrees. Additionally, the influx into the law enforcement agencies across the state of officers with either provisional or low level certifications has led to an increased number of licensure suspensions, revocations, and administrative actions within that subgroup. The purpose of this research is to determine whether or not police officers in Texas who lack a baccalaureate degree have a higher frequency of licensure suspensions or revocations. In addition, this research will further analyze whether or not police officers in Texas with advanced peace officer certifications have lower levels of officer misconduct or criminal offenses. This study reviewed 660 reported cases of police officer misconduct or criminal offenses from 2001--2007 in the State of Texas. The levels of education and certification were compared to the types and frequencies of misconduct or criminal activity. The research revealed that the absence of a baccalaureate degree correlated to higher criminal offenses and officer misconduct. Those officers in this research with lower levels of peace officer certification committed more crimes and engaged in more officer misconduct as well. Finally, those officers lacking a four-year degree and possessing lower levels of certification had the highest incidence of licensure suspensions, revocations, and administrative actions for misconduct and criminal offenses.