Educational standards lowered for new Asheville police

ASHEVILLE – Once known for some of the highest educational standards in North Carolina, the Asheville Police Department has cut degree requirements for new recruits.

The department quietly lowered education requirements in June, saying new police officers no longer needed a two-year college degree and could be hired with a high school diploma.

The change is intended to "increase the size, diversity and quality of the applicant pool," as well as put Asheville in line with most departments' hiring practices, interim Police Chief Wade Wood said.

Two Asheville police veterans say lower standards indicate a decline in the department's prestige. A university professor specializing in police training said the change could even lead to more problems in the use of excessive force.

"We were once seen as the most progressive agency in the state," said 26-year Asheville police veteran Tom Aardema. "But the philosophy of the agency has changed."

The vast majority of law enforcement agencies historically have required a high school diploma, specialists in police training say.

That goes for all sizes of departments — from Chapel Hill, where officers police a population of 59,365, to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, whose jurisdiction covers an area with 802,079 residents.

For decades, Asheville too required just a high school degree. One reason was that most new officers came out of the military in the 1960s and 1970s, said former Police Captain Aardema.

"When I joined the Air Force, the draft was still in effect," he said. "When I left and came to the police department, everybody had a military background."

While in the military, service members get classroom training and have opportunities to earn class credits or even higher degrees.

After the 1970s, there were fewer veterans and recruits tended to have less training, Aardema said.

Push for higher standards

Asheville first began a push to increase academic standards in the mid-1990s, under Chief Will Annarino.

The standards varied over the years and at times generated controversy.

Twenty-three officers in 2001 filed a grievance against Annarino, claiming his policy of paying new hires with college degrees 5 to 10 percent more was unfair to current officers with degrees. The former chief could not be reached for comment.

Eventually, the standard was set at a two-year associate's degree or 60 curriculum hours. Exceptions were given in three cases: Applicants who had 30 curriculum hours, three years of military experience, or three years of law enforcement experience could be hired if they entered into a contract with the city to finish their associate's degree.

That made Asheville's requirements some of the toughest in the state, and even the nation, according to Maria Haberfeld, chairwoman of the law, police science and criminal justice administration department at John Jay College in New York.

"An average police department in the U.S. requires only a high school diploma or a GED," Haberfeld said.

'Progressive' department

Asheville didn't pay more than most departments. But it was able to mandate the higher standard because it was seen as a prestigious place, Aardema said.

"We were so respected in the state and throughout this region. We were teaching people from other departments how to do community policing. We had the first bicycle patrol and we were certifying officers in bicycle patrol and in other aspects of policing," he said. "We were very much in demand."

The entire command staff was also actively recruiting whenever possible, he said. In most departments, one or a few people were responsible for recruiting.

Aardema said that a full-scale turnover of top-ranking officers might be in part to blame for problems getting new hires. That turnover happened around the time Annarino retired, he said.

Fellow Asheville police veteran Robin Lyles said he saw the department's desirability among potential officers drop steeply over the decades.

Drop in interest

"When I came to the department in 1983, we had over 300 applicants, and we had to do our testing and our background checks in the Civic Center. We were competing for 10 spots," said Lyles, who was one of those few hired. He went on to work for the department 28 years, retiring as a master patrolman in 2011.

He now teaches law enforcement classes at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College.

"Now you have the availability of 18 or 20 spots. And they are hard pressed to get eight or 10 after they have to pass everything that would allow you to hire them," he said.

Some recruits who are opting to apply at other agencies point to recent turmoil at Asheville's department, Lyle said.

The last two chiefs resigned amid controversy. Forty-four officers signed a petition saying they didn't have confidence in leadership under the last chief William Anderson. The state Department of Justice has an ongoing standards inquiry of the department.

The next chief will be the third in four years.

The lowered standards came about as part of a recent strategic planning process and a recommendation from a consulting group, Wood said.

In enlarging the pool of applicants, the command staff also hopes to bring in more military veterans, the interim chief said.

Education will continue to be important for pay and advancement, he said. Entry level officers are paid $33,672-$39,755, "based on training and experience," the department's website says.

"APD will continue to encourage employees to further their professional development by seeking higher educational opportunities," Wood said, "as education is, and will continue to be, considered during the promotional process for sworn employees."

Degree important?

While high school diplomas are the norm, making police officers earn degrees immediately is a good idea, John Jay Criminal Justice Chairwoman Haberfeld said.

She pointed to Finland, where she said officers get an equivalent of a bachelor's degree when they graduate from the police academy. "It gives them both more tools and age maturity," she said.

At least one well-respected study has shown police with college degrees have fewer problems, said John DeCarlo, another John Jay criminal justice professor.

DeCarlo pointed to 2004 research on police selection by Michael Aamodt at Radford University.

"It showed that cops that have college degrees actually have fewer disciplinary problems and fewer use of force problems," he said.

But DeCarlo, a former police chief in Connecticut, acknowledged that's a moot point if you can't find police to hire. Departments also have to balance issues such as tight budgets and the desire to cast a very wide net.

Getting a diverse pool of applicants is especially important with current racial tensions pitting minority residents against police, he said.

"The recruitment of police is a challenge nationally," he said.

For that reason, other measurements besides a college degree may work, he said.

Former Asheville officer Lyles agreed. The way to increase the department's desirability would be to continue to encourage current officers to get higher degrees and more training, the retired master patrolman said — and to make it easier for officers to live in a city known for its high cost of living.

"I'm saying every officer at APD needs an 8 or 10 percent pay increase right now," he said.