A LITERATURE REVIEW WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE IF ANY EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE SUPPORTED THE PREVAILING IDEA THAT HIGHER EDUCATION ENHANCES THE JOB PERFORMANCE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS. IT REVEALED THAT A CONSIDERABLE AMOUNT OF THIS THEORY IS BASED ON UNSUBSTANTIATED OPINIONS RATHER THAN EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE, AND ANY EMPIRICAL STUDIES CONDUCTED PRODUCED CONFLICTING RESULTS. EXPLANATORY MODELS WERE ALMOST NONEXISTENT. THE PURPOSE OF THIS STUDY WAS TO EVALUATE THE EFFECTS OF EDUCATION ON POLICE VALUES AND PERFORMANCE. A CONCEPTUAL MODEL WAS DEVELOPED BASED ON THE LITERATURE AND DESIGNED TO INVESTIGATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN POLICE PERFORMANCE AND EDUCATION; AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MODEL WAS CONDUCTED TO DETERMINE ITS EXPLANATORY POWER. A CONCEPTUAL MODEL OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EDUCATION, ATTITUDES, AND PERFORMANCE IS DEFINED AS A CUMULATIVE CAUSAL CHAIN CONSISTING OF THE FOLLOWING: (1) THE EFFECT OF SELECTED BIOGRAPHIC VARIABLES ON EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT; (2) THE EFFECT OF EDUCATION ON THE AFFILIATION AND INFLUENCE ON THE POLICE WORKGROUP; (3) THE EFFECT OF THIS GROUP ON VALUE SYSTEMS; AND (4) THE EFFECT OF VALUE SYSTEMS ON PERFORMANCE. THE SURVEY SAMPLE, COMPOSED OF 103 POLICE RECRUITS WHO HAD COMPLETED ACADEMY TRAINING AND SERVED ACTIVELY FOR 3 MONTHS, WAS SELECTED FROM AVERAGE MUNICIPAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN SOUTHERN STATES. DATA WERE COLLECTED THROUGH SELF-ADMINISTERED QUESTIONNAIRES. DATA RELATED TO RECRUIT PERFORMANCE WERE GATHERED FROM EACH RECRUIT'S FIELD TRAINING OFFICER (FTO). THE RECRUIT'S QUESTIONNAIRE INCLUDED ITEMS CONCERNING A ROKEACH VALUE SURVEY, FORM E; FOUR REFERENCE GROUP AFFILIATION SCALES; SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS; COLLEGE MAJOR; YEARS OF EDUCATION; AND OTHER RELEVANT SCALES. PATH ANALYSIS WAS USED TO EVALUATE THE FINDINGS. THE DATA SHOW THAT EDUCATIONAL LEVEL HAS A VERY SLIGHT AND NEGATIVE EFFECT ON PERFORMANCE, AND THE PROPOSED MODEL IS NOT AN ADEQUATE EXPLANATORY DEVICE. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THOSE INTERESTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE PERSONNEL SHOULD DETERMINE THE ACTUAL, OBSERVED EFFECT OF EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT ON PERFORMANCE AND THE PROCESS BY WHICH THIS EFFECT IS REALIZED BEFORE UNCONDITIONALLY PROMOTING POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION. TABULAR DATA, FIGURES, NOTES, AND EXTENSIVE REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (JCP)