Lecture 2 part 1 Flashcards
Police selection
- Process by which police agencies select police officers from a pool of applicants
- Applicants assessed for physical fitness, cognitive abilities, personality, job-related abilities
Primary selection process in 1917
IQ score higher than 80
Primary selection process in 1922
IQ tests to find people unintelligent
Primary selection process in 1950
Select with reasonable degree of accuracy
Primary selection process in 1960s-1970s
Psychological and psychiatric screening procedure standard
Multi-hurdle approach
1- Information session/ qualities and requirements 2- Vision and hearing tests 3- Submit online application 4- Entrance exam (personality/aptitude) 5- Forms (applicant questionnaire) 6- Polygraph 7- Full health (medical/psychological) 8- Background and security clearance
Police selection process
- Job analysis
- Construction and validity
Job analysis
Define what KSA (knowledge, skills, abilities) make good officer
Problems conduction job analysis
- KSA’s not stable over time
- Different KSA’s for different jobs
- Agreement on KSA’s
Key police characteristics
- Honesty
- Reliability
- Communication skills
- Motivation
- Problem solving skills
- Team work
Problems with construction and validation
- Deciding what job-performance measure to use
- Different performance measures may provide different results
Selection instruments
- Selection interview
- Psychological tests
- Assessment centres
Selection interview
- Common in Canada
- Goal to determine if applicant has KSA’s
Selection interview problems
- Low interviewer agreement
- Applicant faking good
- Research on predictive validity is mixed
Cognitive ability tests
- Very common in Canada (RCMP aptitude test)
- Verbal
- Mathematical
- Memory
- Reasoning abilities
- Much more valid for academy than job
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)
- Developed to identify psychopathological problems
- May be useful for screening out unsuitable police candidates
Construction and validity
Making screening process reliable and valid
Inwald Personality Inventory (IPI)
- Developed specifically for police selection and measures personality and behaviour
- Moderate predictive validity (higher than MMPI)
RCMP 6 factor personality questionnaire
- 108 questions
- Used to measure honesty, integrity, and commitment
Assessment centres
- Facility where behaviour of applicants is observed by experts
- Situational tests to simulate real life situations
