Police Recruitment and Selection

Outline

• Explain the importance of the recruiting and selecting officers in a cultural context

• Discuss the laws, regulations and strategies police organizations have established to recruit and select

• Describe 5 areas police organizations test to screen applicants

Public perception of law enforcement impacts effective recruiting of new officers?

• can be true or false depends on who you ask

Importance of Recruitment and Selection

• Changing society had impacted law enforcement agencies to build a cadre of personnel capable of dealing with the variety of complexities these officers will face on a day to day basis

• Hiring officers who have the education, social skills, and characteristics that accurately reflect the communities they service can ass trust and cooperation with the police.

• Because of this recruitment and selecting personnel is one of the most important aspects for police departments.

  • Education and the field are merging

  • less likely to use unnecessary force if properly emotionally and mentally equipped

  • textbook + field = success

Issues within R&S

• Poor recruitment and selection leads to critical issues within and outside the department

• Generational Issues

Research implementations for R&S

• Job satisfaction analysis

• Reduced turnover by giving previews of work to candidates

Anti-Discrimination Legislation

• Equal Employment Opportunity

• Affirmative Action

• Civil Rights Act, Title 7

• Age Discrimination/Disabilities

Equal Employment Opportunity Act (EEOA)

• Historically, U.S. employers, have been free to establish their own criteria for hiring, promoting, and denying employment, even with the 1st, 5th, and 14th amendments

  • prohibiting deprivation of employment rights without due process of law.

Civil rights Act, Tittle VII (7)

• 1964

  • Began to take EE rights seriously

• Basis

  • Discrimination against immutable characteristics were basis of violations of Title VII

• OPM

  • Office of Personnel Management has included a prohibition against discrimination of sexual orientation, martial status, and political affiliation.

Affirmative Action

• Prominence

  • Alone with EEOA and Civil Rights, affirmative action gained prominence.

  • These programs were built to prevent discrimination in hiring and promotional practices

• Consent Decree

  • Employers have now implemented programs, if they do not they can face charges and lose federal financial support.

  • Consent Decree is designed to achieve balance in terms of race, ethnicity, and gender in the workforce.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Title 7

• Prohibits job discrimination based on specific characteristics that are determined at birth and other characteristics that applicants should not be expected to alter

• It is illegal to discriminate against individuals on their birthplace, ancestry, culture, and linguistic characteristics.

• Under this, employers are required to reasonably accommodate the religious beliefs of an employee.

• This also goes for pregnant employees/ prospective employees.

Age & Disability

• Age

  • An age limit has been stablished for these agencies as per normal operation of agency

  • Example: Up to age 35/40 for applicants to apply

• Disability

  • Enacted in 1990

  • ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against persons with certain categories of disabilities.

  • A qualified individual with a disability, the employer may be required to provide a reasonable accommodation for the employee with a disability.

Testing of Candidates

• Status Tests

  • Changeable factors:

    • U.S. Citizenship

    • Drivers License

    • Residency

    • Military?

    • Educational Level

    • Age

• Physical tests

  • Physical agility tests

  • Height & Weight tests

  • Vision

  • Hearing

  • Medical examinations

• Mental Test

  • Measures intelligence

  • Knowledge

  • Aptitude

  • Psychological fitness

    • Integrity tests

    • Polygraphs

    • Personality test

Testing of Candidates

• Tests of Morality

  • tests include background investigations, drug tests, and polygraphs

  • Background includes:

    • Public records

    • Legal records

    • Personal Information

• Communication Tests

  • Ability to communicate is essential for police departments

  • An oral board or oral interview is a required evaluation for statements, accuracy, and comprehensiveness

Conclusion

• Recruitment & Selection of entry officers are critical to the success of police agencies.

• The selection process for entry-level involves many steps to ensure that the most qualified applicants who are seriously interested in a career in policing for the training academy