Week 2 Flashcards
What is police recruitment? (4)
Involves a range of activities used by police to get potential applicants interested in a career in policing
Ex: ad campaigns, career fairs, social media
Goal is to develop a pool of applicants that contains qualified individuals
Much more research is needed
What are current challenges in policing that demonstrate the need for better police recruitment? (4)
High retirement rate will open up spots that need filling
Youth not as interested in policing
Higher rate of turnover than previously seen
Recruitment methods show unrealistic depictions of what the job is, resulting in unsatisfied recruits
What is police selection? (3)
The process by which police agencies select police officers from a pool of applicants
Either by screening out those with undesirable qualities or selecting in those with desirable qualities
Applicants are assessed for relevant knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs)
What are some undesirable KSAs to screen out? (4)
Can’t meet essential requirements (high school degree, drivers license, legal ability to work, ability to read/write)
Serious physical or mental health issues
Serious drug or alcohol use
Criminal activity
What are some desirable KSAs to select in? (6)
Essential requirements
Fitness
Cognitive aptitude
Personality
Knowledge
Personal qualities
What is easier, screening out or selecting in?
Screening out is easier because we know pretty clearly what we don’t want while it is harder to agree on what KSAs matter the most
What is an example selection process for the RCMP? (7)
Online application
Attend presentation and submit entrance assessment
Forms completion
Suitability assessment and Right Fit interview
Background checks
Health assessment
Field investigation/security clearance
What does underlying research have to do with police selection?
A police psychologists or organizational psychologist often assists with the development of this process from a research perspective
What are the 3 stages of police selection from a research perspective?
Job analysis (define KSAs that make a good officer dependent on position)
Construction (develop an instrument to measure these KSAs)
Validation (ensure the KSAs are related to post-hire performance using that instrument)
Describe stage 1 (job analysis) in terms of how you can do it (5), potential issues (6 ISDVAR) and KSAs you might include
Surveys, observational methods, interviews with officers, reliance on research/lit, current practices
How to identify/assess KSAs, lack of stability of important KSAs over time (macro and micro changes), different KSAs dependent on job, sheer volume of KSAs, lack of agreement of most important KSAs, do KSAs meet relevant criteria (is it legal)
Fitness, cognitive aptitude, sense of humor, honesty, obedience, teamwork, communication skills, etc.
Describe stage 2 (construction) in terms of what methods you can use (5) and potential issues (7 DGRMMCS)
Background checks, interviews, exams, questionnaires, simulations
Deciding between pre-existing and new tools, general or police-specific tools, legality/relevance, best method, difficulty in measuring certain KSAs (humor), how to construct the test, subjectivity
Describe stage 3 (validation) in terms of predictive validity and potential issues (3 DAR)
What are other validity concerns to look at? (4 CFII)
We are trying to determine the predictive validity of the selection instrument, meaning the degree to which scores at a certain time (pre-hire) can predict scores for the same person at a later time (post-hire)
Deciding on performance measure, accounting for faking good to get the job, range restriction
Construct validity, face validity, inter-rater agreement, internal consistency
What is the range restriction problem? (Parole example) (6)
If you have a bunch of offenders applying for parole, the parole board will make decisions using a measurement instrument to determine who should be allowed on parole and who isn’t
Ideally, you measure everyone, let them all out, and compare what happens to measure validity
That isn’t what happens because if they failed the instrument and are likely to reoffend, we cannot risk letting them out for the sake of research
The people we held back, we cannot measure the validity of the instrument because they didn’t get the chance to prove it right or wrong
That is the range restriction problem as you only get to measure half of the range pool, our range from pre to post hire is restricted and therefore does not give the full picture
You never have the full range of scores to give you the full picture (which could be very different)
What are some example instruments? (3)
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory is the most validated instrument
Range of aptitude tests, with many being specific to individual police services (memory, logic, comprehension)
Situational tests like acting out homeowner complains or domestic disturbances using hired actors to see how they react in that situation
What results emerge from the validity of selection instruments? (4)
Results vary from study to study as there isn’t much research on some instruments
It is rare to see high-validity coefficients
Sometimes even see negative validity coefficients
Coefficients are higher for academy performance vs. job performance (they do better in the controlled academy vs on the job boots on the ground)
