Police officer indicted in off-duty fight told grand jury he and friend were attacked

Why does Pence having a college degree matter? Pretty ignorant statement coming from someone who sounds bitter they don't have one also. I have no idea who this officer is. I'm not defending his actions, if he's guilty so be it he'll get what he deserves. My point is you make it sound like all college educated officers are idiots. I've been a police officer nearly ten years, I have a college degree, and have never been in trouble. From now on please think before you speak and try not to embarrass the rest of us who do our job right.

Having a degree doesn't stop someone from getting drunk or breaking the law. This is a character and maturity issue not a knowledge of the law issue.

You don't really need a degree to be a good patrol officer. The department shouldn't disqualify people for that reason alone. A good lawyer could probably get the current requirements to be hired as a recruit thrown out by a court. Griggs v. Duke Power company established that requiring education that was not actually needed for the job in the face of experience, could create a disparate impact on minorities. The same would hold true for a requirement for a college degree in the face of a decade of experience.

The department should be more concerned about hiring intelligent, mature, psychologically stable, honest, and moral people well suited to the job who are willing to stay fit enough to last a whole career. That's hard enough to do when you're only offering what the city pays.