Educational Standards for Recruiting
| Date | 01 February 1964 |
| Published date | 01 February 1964 |
| Author | C. G. Burrows |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X6403700203 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
c. G.
BURROWS,
M.B.E.,
Chief Constable
of
Oxford
EDU(;ATIONAL
STANDARDS
FOR
RE(;RUITING
I was invited in
1961
by the Research Committee
of
the Association
of
Chief Police Officers to submit apaper on the standard
of
educa-
tion which should be expected
of
potential recruits to the Police
Service. This is a matter which interested the recent Royal Com-
mission, who had a good deal to say about it; it has since the last
world war much exercised the minds
of
chief officers; and it is
of
paramount concern to all serving officers who want their future
colleagues to be
of
the right mental stature for the job.
It
has long been recognized that policemen must be
of
the pre-
scribed height and fitness and of unblemished character. Mental
qualifications have
not
been so clearly specified. The Desborough
Report of 1920spoke up well, reproducing H.M. Inspectors' evidence:
", . . a man cannot make a good policeman unless his general
intelligence, memory and powers of observation are distinctly above
the average. His character should be unblemished: he should be
humane and courteous and, generally, he should possess a combina-
tion
of
moral, mental and physical qualities
not
ordinarily required
in other employments. Further, when he becomes a constable,
he is entrusted with powers which may gravely affect the liberty
of
the subject, and he must at all times be ready to act with tact and
discretion, and on his own initiative and responsibility, in all sorts
of contingencies. The burden
of
individual discretion and responsi-
bility placed upon a constable is much greater than that of any other
public servant of subordinate rank."
This presupposes men whose mental faculties are naturally good
and have received a fair amount
of
training, but in 1920 it was
felt that there had been a falling off in the educational standard
even before the 1914-18 War. Recruiting requirements in this respect
varied in different forces, according to the value placed on educational
qualifications by the chief officer concerned. The Police Post-War
Committee in its 1949 report strongly recommended that there
should be a standard minimum educational test which candidates
should pass before being accepted in any force. The committee
did not want the test to be too severe, recognizing that academic
qualifications were not
of
themselves a sound criterion
of
police
suitability. They thought the standard should be equivalent to that
attained by the average pupil in the last year
of
compulsory whole-
time attendance at school. Lord Oaksey's Committee endorsed
February 1964 53
To continue reading
Request your trial