Exam 4: Becoming a Police Officer

What do police administrators seem to agree is important in a police recruit?

Field training is provided by __________.

What Would You Do? You are Jackson's Police Commissioner. In light of the need for more officers, you are creating a Police Cadet Program Taskforce, which will be charged with creating a program to recruit 18-year-old high school graduates to be police cadets. Task force members will identify appropriate sources for referrals and liaise with law enforcement personnel, court personnel, government personnel, business owners, citizens' groups, and civilians to gain support and suggestions for the new program. In creating the task force, you first must determine whether to staff it with all sworn police officers, which is how task forces have traditionally been set up, all civilian employees, which would mean a huge cost savings for the force, or you can choose to staff the task force with a partial staff of sworn police officers and the remaining staff civilian employees. This would allow for some cost savings and the added benefits of those on the task force being able to conduct full duties of those in that position, including making arrests. -Which alternative do you choose when deciding how to staff the task force?

What Would You Do? The survey provides important results but is not completely clear. Twenty percent of those answering the survey suggest the task force be made up of entirely civilians. The other 80 percent are split between using only sworn police officers and having the task force be comprised of half civilians and half sworn police officers. -You are Jackson's Police Commissioner. What final decision do you make?

How does the police selection process work?

Use of a polygraph for screening applicants is __________.

Recent changes in recruitment procedures and standards have resulted in __________.

Key candidate characteristics include __________.

In the applicant screening process, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) considerations apply to __________.

Which decision held that height and weight requirements were discriminatory against women and minorities?

The case of Guardians Association of New York City Police Department v. Civil Service Commission of New York (1980) found job analysis to be __________.

An officer may obtain ongoing training __________.

What are the training requirements for police service?

Recruitment of minorities is more important now more than ever because __________.

What are the minimum standards for police employment?

Summary A Staffing the task force entirely with sworn police officers will provide a better view into what the Cadet Program should include, not include, and what the qualifications should be. Given that the program will be used to recruit future officers it is best that the decisions regarding its composition be decided by officers who know what it required for the job. A significant issue with this decision includes the fact that a large percentage (60 percent) of those responding to the survey stated that they felt all or half of the task force should be made up of civilians. Action should be taken to ensure that this is addressed in order to prevent them from feeling that their input was not ignored and thus have a negative impact on civilian employee morale. To learn more about how today's officer differs from those in recent years, see "The Recruitment Process." Summary B Staffing the task force entirely with half civilians and half sworn police officers will provide a better view into what the Cadet Program should include, not include, and what the qualifications should be. Given that the program will be used to recruit future officers it is best that the decisions regarding its composition include the people who will be directly interacting with them. Civilians can provide a unique perspective on the qualities that are important to cadets who are seeking future employment as officers. A significant issue with this decision includes the fact that a significant percentage (40 percent) of those responding to the survey stated that they felt all of the task force should be made up of sworn officers. Action should be taken to ensure that this is addressed in order to prevent them from feeling that their input was not ignored and thus have a negative impact on officer morale. To learn more about how today's officer differs from those in recent years, see "The Recruitment Process." Choosing to use both officers and civilians will add the most perspectives to the task force. Civilians can provide a viewpoint that officers cannot, while officers know what it takes to do their job. You create and send out a survey to all department captains and lieutenants describing the purpose of the task force. The survey includes questions about which type of employee would be best suited to working the task force. -What agency has been the motivation for more highly educated police officers?

In which order does new recruit training occur?

According to a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) report, what did at least 50 percent of municipal police agencies use in the recruitment process?

Choosing to use only officers or civilian employees to create the cadet program will result in losing input from a group of employees who have a unique view into what is necessary to be a police officer. However, using only one group of employees will also limit the amount of politics that may obstruct the committee. You create and send out a survey to all department captains and lieutenants describing the purpose of the task force. The survey includes questions about which type of employee would be best suited to working the task force. -Of the following options, which is the most used police applicant screening procedure?

Historically, the primary qualification to become a police officer was __________.