A Bachelor's Degree in 2010 is basically what a high school diploma was in 1980, the times have changed and the department has changed accordingly. I don't see how a person who works their way through college and gets an education has any less "life experience" than if they had forgone college and drove a truck or stocked shelves for four years. I know some great, hard working officers who didn't have a "real job" before becoming the police and I also know some complete idiots who were hired without