The majority of larger departments within Tennessee possess more than adequate hiring standards for their departments. In fact, Metro Nashville Police, roughly an hour away, has stringent standards, including a preference for some college education for incoming recruits (Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee, 2017). But, the larger cities have significantly higher pay to offer potential employees, ergo, a more extensive hiring pool. Meanwhile, smaller jurisdictions like the upper Cumberland region where I work, have difficulties finding applicants for law enforcement jobs. Thus, the stringent standards suggested in this weeks reading and in larger departments is somewhat unrealistic (Dempsey, & Forst, 2016). Subsequently,
The Thompson Valley Police Service is seeking to double the number of police recruits over the next three years. In an attempt to attract more applicants, the newly appointed Police Commissioner, Commissioner Jason DeVillain is proposing two key changes to the current selection process. Firstly, Commissioner DeVillain is proposing to eliminate the requirement for partial or completed tertiary education. Secondly, it is being proposed that psychological testing should be removed from the selection process. As a research and policy officer for the Thompson Valley Police Service, the validity and likely impact of the above two proposed changes will be investigated thoroughly, followed by recommendations to Commissioner DeVillain to ensure the selection process is as effective as possible in selecting the most suitable candidates for the new police recruits. The role of a general duties police officer is broad in nature and requires the officer to be efficient in many areas, ranging from administrative duties to conflict resolution and problem solving. In addition to the recording and logging of all jobs attended while on duty, the officer may be required to prepare documents for court hearings, where written communication skills will also be
The fundamentals of community policing could be utilized to outline the importance of trust, confidence, and as a recruitment approach to attract Asian-Americans towards a career in law enforcement. Tangel (2015) recommended law enforcement agencies to “utilize the community as a recruitment agent to fashion a police force which more closely mirrors the community, racially and ethnically” (p. 1). Recruiting and hiring qualified Asian-American candidates has been a challenge for law enforcement for several decades. For the most part, concerns regarding racial biases and mistrust have dominated the hiring landscape (Hanser & Gomila, 2015). Law enforcement agencies along with the help of prior researchers have made tremendous recruiting efforts by developing traditional recruitment techniques to attract the most qualified candidates. However, in the event of globalization and an increase of Asian immigrants in the United States, law enforcement agencies must search beyond traditional methods to attract potential Asian-American police candidates (Crump, 2011). It is not to say that traditional methods of recruiting are ineffective in today’s 21st century recruitment, but rather, law enforcement agencies must utilize both traditional and non-traditional methods to recruit and hire the most qualified
Organization is the most important part of any business. In the business of criminal justice, organization is of the highest importance. Every day, hour, and minute must be accounted for, and at the same time all bases must be covered. This brings up a problem when trying to run a precinct that employs a lot of police officers. The Chicago Police Department is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the second largest local law enforcement agency in the United States after the New York City Police Department. Chicago’s community policing effort is more extensive and organized than other jurisdictions.
People with money think they have the ability to get away with their unlawful actions, to buy their freedom. In the show Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, in the episode “Wonderland”, Sarah Walsh was a victim of rape. She was unaware of who had raped her but eventually found out her rapist appeared to be one of her “friends” who was very wealthy. He had paid off his other victims to keep him away from the title of a criminal. Throughout the show, you can see the way people with money think about their position and the law. In the episode “Wonderland” of Law and Order: SVU, the creator portrays that criminals with money are punished not as severely as average income people. The issue of people who believe,
The influence of higher education on police officer habits would surprise many according to Matthew D. Bostrom, D.P.A of the Saint Paul Police Department in “Police Chief Magazine-The Professional Voice of Law Enforcement”. Although a degree is required for some agencies and considered ideal for any person looking to join the law enforcement field, surveys show otherwise says Bostrom. According to a study conducted in St. Paul, Minnesota there were more on-duty vehicle collisions by officers with formal education beyond high school than those who only obtained a high school diploma. The article also shows figures indicating more disciplinary actions towards officers with college degrees and a significant difference in those of officers with high school diplomas only. The measurements of work habits shown indicate that perhaps a college degree in general is not necessary to be an effective police officer. Traffic Officer James Dunn of the California Highway Patrol in an interview said, “a degree can be beneficial, but some people are very eloquent and knowledgeable even without attending college-a person can learn the specific duties of any job, but college does not teach you the responsibilities of being a police officer. You learn that by hands-on training”. Although a degree is helpful, Officer Dunn admits that he has been very successful in the law
The Baltimore City police have faced a myriad of problems in the last year. The riots following the Freddie Gray arrest were reported around the country and created a situation where the Governor was forced to call in the National Guard to protect the city. Community leaders report that African American’s are stopped, searched and arrested at a far greater number than Caucasian’s. The Baltimore city police are at an impasse with the community at this time, it is up to the city leaders and the police officials to come up with some real solutions to the issues that can no longer be ignored.
Our society has become one that is very diverse. Law enforcement agencies (local, state, and federal) for our changing society need to include an increase representation of women and minorities, definite improvement in leadership skills, and to strengthen community policing. These are all issues of great importance, which are no longer going to be pushed aside.
The article Police and Higher Education: Where are We Now by Roy Roberg and Scott Bonn discuss and review past articles and ideas about whether or not police officers should be required to have earned a college degree in order to qualify a position in law enforcement within the United States. The first person who believed in the idea that police officers should be required to hold a college degree in order to be qualified for a position was August Vollmer. August Vollmer was “the father of American police professionalism” (Walker & Katz, 2011). Vollmer is best known for being a supporter of higher education within law enforcement. However, many officers and high ranking officials did not believe in the concept of needing to obtain a college degree in order to protect their community. A majority of police officers in law enforcement did not have a college degree nor did police departments require it to be considered a position. Moreover, many police departments did not necessitate a high school diploma but rather a general equivalency diploma. The first time that this idea was utilized was during the time of the 1960’s, when, in the early 1960’s, crime was increasing drastically and by the late 1960’s the ghetto riots took place, opening the eyes of those in charge that something needed to change, and change quickly in order to prevent criminal activity and chaos.
American policing originated from early English law and is profoundly influenced by its history. Early law enforcement in England took on two forms of policing, one of which heavily influenced modern policing and it is known as the watch (Potter, 2013). The watch consisted, at first, of volunteers which had to patrol the streets for any kind of disorder including crime and fire. After men attempted to get out of volunteering by paying others, it became a paid professional position (Walker & Katz, 2012). The three eras of policing in America are shaped by these early ideas and practices of law enforcement. Throughout time, sufficient improvements and advancements have been made from the political era to the professional era and finally the community era which attempts to eliminate corruption, hire qualified officers and create an overall effective law enforcement system.
"Studies, Case Law, Quotes, Standards and Trends in Support of a College Education for Police Officers." Police Association for College Education (PACE). Web. 02 Mar. 2011..
Recruiting officers is a vital job for any city, state, federal department. The people that are recruited could be the next leaders of the department. Most departments try to pull in the most diverse and qualified applicants that are looking to make law enforcement a career. They also look for applicants that have a commitment in severing their community. The recruiters have a bigger pull of people with the unemployment rate going up. There are more people going back to school to study criminal law and are looking for a career in law enforcement. The recruiters look for people that hold knowledge in law, communication skills, self- discipline, and attention to detail. The new recruit should want to stay learning new things by furthering their education in law enforcement. The recruiters must hold a high standard for hiring police officers because of what the community expects from their law enforcement. Most recruiters have to go by the department’s code of ethics that each department has set for their officers. This has made recruiters come up with new ways of trying to recruit officers. Some recruiters have started going after top students out of universities and other schools. Many Departments have come up with hiring incentives for new r...
All organizations, especially law enforcement agencies, require leadership. Maintaining a dependable leadership structure is key to the success of any organization. The philosophy of the modern style of police leadership involves a leader who is strong, competitive and unreceptive to change. Police leadership is based from an autocratic style which is founded on integrity and courage, embracing teamwork, involvement and shared leadership (Cordner & Scarborough, 2010). This style of leadership works well in an emergency situation in which rapid decision making and strict control is needed. The negative aspect to this style of leadership is the inability of the organization to function with the absence of leadership.
Hong Kong public sector reform in 1989 greatly influence the management style in Police Force system. The authoritarian hierarchy management style which is used since the Police Force had been established, is challenged by the New Public Management and civil society. Therefore, different means, including vision and mission statement, are used to coordinate with this global trend of reform.
Aside from the inequality in education, it doesn’t outweigh the positive that comes this institution. The education system helps young minds become the upcoming professionals of their generation; allowing them to learn in accordance to an evolving society. A career in policing can be used as an example of the changes that occurs in society, demanding changes to the education of police officers. Based on Rydberg and Terrill (2013), “. . . more studies . . . have examined the role of education on use of force behavior. Several of these studies have relied on observational data from the Project on Policing Neighborhoods (POPN) and have found that college-educated officers use force less often than their less educated counterparts
...at exactly is the process known as police recruitment and just how different it was in the 1960s from today’s day and age. In the 1960s police departments were worried about not having enough minorities and now police departments worry about not having enough qualified officers in general. If police departments can better advertise how great it is to be a police officer and how bright the future could be for a hardworking officer I think that the retention issue among police departments will decrease dramatically and the amount of qualified applicants will sky rocket. All in all police recruitment is a huge part of law enforcement agencies and if it wasn’t for recruitment and the work that goes in to getting officers field ready who knows what kind of chaos could have come from having unfit officers patrolling the streets and keeping citizens safe on a daily basis.