Deck 4: Becoming a Police Officer

Question 1

How does one go about finding a position in policing?

Answer 1

There are several ways to find a position with a police agency. All government entities have human resource or personnel departments. These departments usually have job postings at the city hall, on the Internet, or with the state employment office. In addition, television, newspaper, and radio advertisements are common. Many departments participate in job fairs and career days. In recent years, the Internet has arisen as a favorite choice among employers to get the message out about job openings because it is a preferred place for applicants to seek information. Most police departments have their own web pages and advertise there. Then there is the time-tested method of word-of-mouth advertising. Many police departments view their current officers as effective recruiters.

Question 2

How does the police selection process work?

Answer 2

The selection process starts with the application. Many police departments utilize a written test. Once the written exam is passed, the applicant continues on to some form of physical agility exam. Applicants are next scheduled to appear before an oral interview panel. On successful completion of this exam, candidates are ranked and asked to complete a personal history form. This packet is generally very detailed and requires several days to complete. A background investigation ensues, and a polygraph is given following the background check. If the applicant has been truthful and has passed all phases of the selection process, the applicant meets with the chief or agency head, and a conditional job offer is usually made. Physical (medical) and psychological exams are then given, and if the applicant passes those exams, he or she is hired. Not all police agencies utilize the same hiring process.

Question 3

What are the minimum standards for police employment?

Answer 3

Each police department sets standards for prospective police officers. The standards cover education, criminal history, age, physical abilities, psychological standing, and vision. Some police departments favor candidates with more education than the minimum standard. There has been recent litigation regarding physical ability testing as well as height and weight requirements. Generally, the physical agility tests have to be job related and cannot have an adverse effect on a significant portion of the population. The changing role of police officers coupled with rapid technological advances make it incumbent upon police administrators to examine whether their physical requirements for police candidates are valid in today's environment.

Question 4

What type of police applicants are departments looking for?

Question 5

What are the training requirements for police service?

Question 6

Law enforcement agencies are having difficulty recruiting qualified candidates to be sworn officers. Agencies are now looking to identify future officers at a young age and determine how well they will meet the stringent hiring requirements of police agencies via police cadet programs. Given budgetary and staff limitations, the challenge then is deciding who should design cadet programs. Police officials may task sworn police officers, civilian personnel, or a mix of both with recruitment and hiring responsibilities. Officials must consider the cost of diverting the personnel from their other duties, what image they want to project, and how to accurately represent the holistic day to day of working in the agency.
This scenario focuses on deciding who the best people are for designing cadet programs.
Jackson, Tennessee, is a growing city that sits 84 miles northeast of Memphis. The population grew from 65,211 in 2010 to 67,265 in 2012, and has grown by 12.9 percent since 2000. Jackson has a historically high overall crime rate. Additionally, over the last several years, the city's police department has had a difficult time recruiting qualified police candidates. Thus, as the rates of burglaries, robberies, and rapes have increased steadily, the numbers of police officers has declined slightly. Last week, Jackson's mayor, police commissioner, and city council met to discuss how to address the need for increased numbers of qualified police officers. One idea was to begin recruitment of cadets by asking high school counselors in the precinct for recommendations of students they felt would make good police officers. Everyone who attended the meeting approved of this idea. The meeting adjourned with the police commissioner in charge of the next steps.

-What is the title of a nonsworn, paid, part-time position for young adults 18 years of age and older who are interested in a law enforcement career?

A) police cadet
B) polygrapher
C) analyst
D) field training officer

Question 7

Law enforcement agencies are having difficulty recruiting qualified candidates to be sworn officers. Agencies are now looking to identify future officers at a young age and determine how well they will meet the stringent hiring requirements of police agencies via police cadet programs. Given budgetary and staff limitations, the challenge then is deciding who should design cadet programs. Police officials may task sworn police officers, civilian personnel, or a mix of both with recruitment and hiring responsibilities. Officials must consider the cost of diverting the personnel from their other duties, what image they want to project, and how to accurately represent the holistic day to day of working in the agency.
This scenario focuses on deciding who the best people are for designing cadet programs.
Jackson, Tennessee, is a growing city that sits 84 miles northeast of Memphis. The population grew from 65,211 in 2010 to 67,265 in 2012, and has grown by 12.9 percent since 2000. Jackson has a historically high overall crime rate. Additionally, over the last several years, the city's police department has had a difficult time recruiting qualified police candidates. Thus, as the rates of burglaries, robberies, and rapes have increased steadily, the numbers of police officers has declined slightly. Last week, Jackson's mayor, police commissioner, and city council met to discuss how to address the need for increased numbers of qualified police officers. One idea was to begin recruitment of cadets by asking high school counselors in the precinct for recommendations of students they felt would make good police officers. Everyone who attended the meeting approved of this idea. The meeting adjourned with the police commissioner in charge of the next steps.

-How can a police department determine what knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) they want in a person they are interested in hiring?

A) They must perform a job analysis.
B) They must perform a job relatedness analysis.
C) They must perform an adverse impact analysis.
D) They must perform a selection process analysis.

Question 8

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?

Question 9

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.

-What agency has been the motivation for more highly educated police officers?

A) LEEP
B) PODSCORB
C) NCJRS
D) NIJ

Question 10

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?

A) personal interview
B) physical agility test
C) polygraph exam
D) psychological evaluation

Question 11

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?

Question 12

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?

A) LEEP
B) PODSCORB
C) NCJRS
D) NIJ

Question 13

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.

-Of the following options, which is the most used police applicant screening procedure?

A) personal interview
B) physical agility test
C) polygraph exam
D) psychological evaluation

Question 14

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?

Question 15

The website discoverpolicing.org is the official job board of which organization?

A) Department of Justice (DOJ)
B) Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
C) Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
D) International Association of Chiefs of the Police (IACP)

Question 16

Internship programs provide a criminal justice student __________.

A) a job offer at the end of the internship
B) the opportunity to see firsthand what working in a particular agency is like
C) free time to search for a job
D) membership in the Fraternal Order of Police

Question 17

KSAs are standards used to __________.

A) identify good employment applicants
B) drive recruitment
C) complete a job analysis
D) promote nonsworn employees

Question 18

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

A) possession of a horse and a gun
B) an associate's degree
C) a strong body and courage
D) knowledge of the law

Question 19

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has opened up law enforcement jobs to __________.

A) women
B) most retirees
C) almost anyone who applies
D) some people with disabilities

Question 20

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

A) Guardians Association of NYC Police Department v. Civil Service Commission of New York
B) Dothard v. Rawlinson
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) Saville v. Scarborough

Question 21

Which restrictions have been foundations for lawsuits against law enforcement agencies?

A) smoking and age
B) smoking and education
C) education and age
D) criminal record and drug use

Question 22

What makes recruitment more difficult?

A) diminished community resistance
B) escalating numbers of officer resignations
C) the media's portrayal of law enforcement officers
D) improved educational opportunities

Question 23

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

A) the traditional recruiting pool is growing
B) a representative force enhances police-community relations
C) the quantity of American policing depends on the ability to hire individuals who reflect the diversity of the community
D) recruitment pools are larger than in the past

Question 24

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

A) a decrease in the rate of selection for some gender, race, and ethnic groups
B) the employment of more minorities and women
C) recruits moving through the evaluation process more slowly
D) agencies having an abundance of recruits

Question 25

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

A) A willingness to follow orders without question
B) A college degree
C) Maturity
D) Skill in written communication

Question 26

Key candidate characteristics include __________.

A) service orientation and empathy
B) self-control and an aggressive approach
C) sympathy and the ability to take charge
D) no criminal record and the ability to dissemble

Question 27

A job analysis does NOT __________.

A) allow for more efficient recruitment and hiring practices
B) identify the tasks that must be performed in a given job
C) identify the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to perform the tasks of a job
D) clearly indicate who should be hired

Question 28

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

A) nondiscriminatory
B) discriminatory
C) dangerously limiting of potential recruitment pools
D) an effective recruitment screening tool

Question 29

A good job analysis can be used to __________.

A) measure what current police officers in a department actually do
B) dismiss hiring standards that are job related
C) disobey the law
D) avoid hiring minorities

Question 30

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

A) written aptitude test and physical agility test
B) polygraph exam and psychological evaluation
C) medical exam and voice stress analysis
D) physical agility test and background investigation

Question 31

What are typically the last steps in the recruitment process before a candidate is hired?

A) psychological and medical evaluations
B) written and physical agility tests
C) drug tests and background check
D) polygraph exam and the personal interview

Question 32

Nonsworn applicants __________.

A) typically receive preemployment screening similar to that of police officers
B) are required to pass a physical agility test
C) are not required to pass a drug screening or written examination
D) rarely undergo a background investigation

Question 33

Use of a polygraph for screening applicants is __________.

A) known to be reliably accurate
B) recommended by the Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA)
C) an effective mechanism to determine truth
D) prohibited in some states and mandated in others

Question 34

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

A) background checks, psychological tests, and medical exams
B) physical agility tests, psychological tests, and medical exams
C) physical agility tests, psychological tests, and drug testing
D) interviews, drug testing, and physical agility tests

Question 35

Once a recruit has been hired and placed in the field, __________.

A) ongoing training is optional if the officer is interested in promotion
B) training continues once the officer reaches the management level
C) ongoing training is needed to keep up to date with changing laws and procedures
D) department-provided in-service training is no longer necessary

Question 36

In which order does new recruit training occur?

A) police academy, field training, in-service training
B) field training, firearms training, in-service training
C) in-service training, police academy, Hogan's Alley
D) Hogan's Alley, field training, probation

Question 37

Field training is provided by __________.

A) the police academy
B) specially trained officers
C) department managers
D) the President's Commission on Law Enforcement

Question 38

An officer may obtain ongoing training __________.

A) from in-service events and the police academy
B) to prepare for special assignments
C) to avoid the probationary period
D) online, in a classroom, or from the State Peace Officer Standards and Training

Question 39

The probationary period __________.

A) allows a department to evaluate a new officer's ability
B) protects a new officer from dismissal without cause
C) on average lasts 18 to 24 months
D) is falling out of favor in most law enforcement agencies