Selection and training

Recruitment and selection

Class exercise

Identify personal characteristics, knowledge, skills and abilities that can help working police officers do a good job.– Be sure your responses can be justified by

what police officers actually do Based on your prior answer, which of these

should police candidates have before going into the academy?

Two views of the police

Text– Police role: Has transitioned from a professional

to a community-oriented model. “COPS officers will have to gravitate towards problem-solving and community building rather than high-profile arrests”

– Officer behavior: “Officers will need to be accepted into the community and accepting of community input rather than isolated, apart, and suspicious. They will need to be more democratic and less authoritarian in their orientation than traditional officers.”

Instructor– Police role: Role hasn’t substantially changed since the dawn of time: to

promote civility and law observance– Officer behavior: Officers should strive to achieve their goals through

voluntary compliance, with force and coercion a last resort

What personal skills are required?

Incorruptible Tolerates stress Logical skills and intelligence People oriented Free of bias Self-insight, emotional stability Not impulsive Not overly aggressive Physical courage Command presence Works well as a team member Accepts leadership and direction

COPS Jay

Where can we find candidateswith those skills?

College? White collar occupations? Service occupations? Blue-collar occupations? Military? Professions?

Background characteristicsof police applicants

Working class and lower-middle class Conservative political views Looking for steady work with good benefits Idealistic, want to help others Prefer outside work – not be “cooped up” Taste for risk and excitement Lifetime interest (friends and relatives in law enforcement) Assertiveness and physicality

Recruitment

Depends on economy– In strong economies recruitment suffers– In weak economies recruitment booms. Thanks to the recession,

NYPD is swamped with well-educated applicants, many from Wall Street. In November 2009 more than half the recruits in the academy had four-year degrees.

LAPD (not the highest-paid) starts officers in the $50,000 range A few agencies require two-year degrees

– Thirty years ago some (e.g. Ventura) required a four-year degree– Requiring 2 years has been validated against writing and verbal skills, which are

critical components of police duties– Constricts applicant pool, disproportionately impacts minorities

Corruption and violence discourages applicants to urban departments– That, in turn, drives down hiring standards– Hiring officers who admit to prior drug use or have records has been linked to

police misconduct (e.g., the Rampart scandal)

Entry examination process –written exam and oral interview

California P.O.S.T. standards– Peace officers are certified by the State – California law enforcement agencies must meet or surpass

Written exam– Reading, writing, general intellectual development– LAPD Multiple choice test for reading comprehension and

English usage and an essay for writing skills Oral interview

– Evaluates what cannot be measured– Ability to communicate and reason, general poise and bearing– LAPD Job motivation, personal accomplishments, adaptability,

community orientation, respect for diversity, problem solving

Physical agility

Police work occasionally requires:– Chasing people over obstacles

(speed, endurance and agility)– Overcoming physical resistance

(strength and flexibility)– Accurately deploying weapons under stress (strength and coordination)

LAPD– SIDE STEP (Agility): Ten seconds to move from one side of a center

line to the other side as many times as possible – CABLE PULL (Strength): Five seconds to pull a pair of handles apart as

hard as possible in a horizontal motion – STATIONARY BICYCLE (Endurance): Two minutes to pedal as many

revolutions as possible against a pre-set resistance

Background (character) investigation

LAPD By far the most important and expensive part of the process

– Much more expensive for out-of-State candidates Key components

– Criminal, traffic and driver license history– Credit history and civil litigation– School and work– Family and friends, neighbors

Common shortcuts– Sketchy coverage of teachers, friends and acquaintances– Not checking prior addresses– Not inspecting juvenile records

Psychological, polygraph and medical examinations

Psychological– Pencil and paper– Interviews with psychologists– Exclude emotionally unstable, overly aggressive

or suffer from a personality disorder Polygraph

– To confirm information developed during background investigation– To elicit information that might not otherwise be obtained– National Academy: polygraph is completely unreliable for screening– Usefulness as a prop

Medical– For conditions that could limit someone’s performance as a police officer– Disqualifying: hypertension, poor vision and hearing, excessively over or

underweight, uncorrected hernias, respiratory problems– California P.O.S.T medical screening standards

Page 14: “While it is impossible to substantiate completely, itappears that the application of our hiring standards was compromisedwhen these officers were hired during periods of accelerated hiringin the late 1980s and early 1990s. This is not to say that anyoneintended to do so. But, one need only look at the pre-employmenthistories of these four people to see that something was seriouslywrong when they were approved for hire. The fact that these menwere hired with egregious information in their packages leaves only two explanations: 1) Recognize that erosion has occurred and shore up the systems to prevent it from recurring; or, 2) Insist that the application of our standards did not erode, which means that criminal conduct, drug dealing, financial irresponsibility and violent behavior are consistent with our standards. Clearly, there has been erosion, the blame for which cannot be placed on one individual or group, but rather on a multifaceted system with competing interests. We must recognize that it has occurred and commit ourselves to never sacrificing quality for the expediency of numbers.”

LAPD Board of Inquiry Report into the Rampart Area Corruption Incident March 1, 2000

Page 9: Of the 14 officers, four had questionable issues in their pre-employment background which strongly indicate they never should have been hired as Los Angeles Police Officers. Those four officers were hired in 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1994, and three of them have since been fired for felonious conduct:

It is important to note that the July 9, 1991, Report of the Independent (Christopher) Commission...all but predicted that a weak application of hiring standards was allowing risky candidates to become Los Angeles Police Officers.

The officer hired in 1994 sold marijuana to two other students on one occasion while he was in high school. At age 15, the police detained him for investigation of tampering with vehicles on a car sales lot. He was taken to the station and released to his parents. Those law enforcement contacts were self-admitted and nothing on his criminal history printout indicates that he was ever formally arrested. However, there is a notation in the package that “All records have been sealed” indicating that he may have had a juvenile record that could not be accessed for the background investigation. In any event, the Police Department recommended his disqualification, but it was overturned by the Personnel Department.

The officer hired in 1990 had been arrested three times before he became an officer at the age of 24. As a juvenile, he was arrested for stealing hubcaps. As an adult, he was arrested and convicted of driving under the influence (DUI). One year before his hire, he was cited for having an open container of an alcoholic beverage in his car and was arrested for driving on a suspended license (suspended from the earlier DUI) for which he was sentenced to ten days in jail. In the military, he was disciplined for disobeying a lawful order. His background investigation disclosed that he "loses his cool very easily“ over minor incidents, and acted like a "big macho man." The psychological examiner advised the Personnel Department that there was not enough negative information to warrant his disqualification.”

The officer hired in 1988 had been arrested as an adult for grand theft. The incident occurred when he struck a public bus driver during a dispute over a transfer. When the driver's watch fell to the ground, the officer picked it up and began walking away, which resulted in his arrest. The Department did not recommended his disqualification or deselect him under three whole scores.

The officer hired in 1989 admitted losing his temper during arguments with his wife and pushing her on six different occasions. He was psychologically eliminated due to "temperament/impulse control." However, he was eventually cleared for hiring by the Personnel Department psychologist.

Investigation into Maywood PDby the Los Angeles Times (4/1/07)

Known as “Department of second chances”. Examples of hires:– A former LASD deputy fired for abusing inmates– A former LAPD officer fired for witness intimidation– A former Huntington Park officer charged with negligently firing a gun and

drunk driving Also hired officers who flunked out of training programs Allegations investigated by state and Federal officials:

– Police and city officials bribed by a tow company– Officer extorted sex from relatives of a fugitive– Officer tried to run over the president of the Maywood Police Commission– Officer impregnated a teenage police explorer– Officers covered up a fatal police shooting (settled for $2.3 million)

California Attorney General’s final report

LASD loosens hiring standards, then...

Big hiring push 2005-2007– Hired over 2,500 deputies

Replaced rigid compliance with standards with “holistic” process– Officials standards didn’t change but % of those disqualified plunged– Reviewers told to balance problem areas against applicants’ overall

history– Poor follow-up of negative flags– Approach affected entire screening process, even psychologist interviews

Examples of poor hiring decisions– Past arrests for DUI, driving a vehicle with an altered VIN and

vandalism. Was let go from another PD while on probation for excessive force.

Fired while on probation for anger management issues– History of traffic tickets, marijuana, steroids and alcohol abuse.

Fired while on probation for assault and intoxication

Hiring issues around the U.S.

01/18/09 A North Carolina police officer accused of sexually assaulting five female motorists was hired despite past incidents of violence, including one that resulted in a restraining order

02/20/09 LA Sheriff’s relaxed policies allowed unsuitable candidates to be hired

10/13/08 More than one in three Atlanta PD new hires have criminal records; many were rejected by other departments

Link to blog post

Training

What should police trainees learn in the academy? List subjects in order of importance.

Be sure you tie the subjects to what police officers actually do.

Types of training

Peace Officer Standards and Training Commissions– Set entry requirements and minimum training standards for pre-service

and in-service training Academy training (pre-service)

– Knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA’s) to do patrol work– Often includes field practicums (e.g., ride-alongs)

Field training– Continue working on KSA’s– Observe recruits; weed out those unsuitable for real-world policing– Field Training Officers (FTO’s)– Probationary period

On-the-job (in-service)– Refine and practice skills– Learn new skills for other assignments

Academy training

Are they covering the necessary KSA’s?– Emphasis on narrow technical skills

(law, report writing, physical arrest,firearms)

– Not enough attention paid to... Cognitive skills (reasoning, information processing) Decision-making skills Interpersonal skills (defusing, not aggravating situations) Using discretion

Resource and quality-control issues– Decentralization causes inequities in funding and large variability

in curricula and instruction methods

Academy styles

Traditional “stress” academies (e.g., LASD)– Modeled on military – Purposes to gain instant compliance, instill discipline and enhance

teamwork skills– May hinder learning, discourage analysis and innovation and fail to

prepare recruits to act independently– LASD academy nearly decertified LASD academy OIR report

Collegiate-style academies (e.g., LAPD)– Reaction against stress academies, which are accused of producing low-

functioning robots– Modeled on higher education, purposes to foster analytical skills and

independent judgment– Tailored for individual rather than team work. May not reach

undisciplined recruits or those who lack decision-making skills and have little life experience

Click to link to blog post

Constraints on curricula

Academy length: 30 years ago most academies weretwo months long – now they are five or moremonths in length

– LAPD Eight months (includes ride-alongs)– California POST Four months Statewide

minimum Criticality of basic skills

– Officer safety– Liability issues– Report writing

Student ability to absorb instruction– Many have limited verbal and writing skills– Most all are young and lack maturity Continued

Practical exercises – role playing and decision-making– Time-consuming– Realism is difficult to achieve– Students lack work experience (context) to internalize instruction

Classroom instruction – personal skills, defusing incidents– Producing changes in behavior can take months of intense instruction– Health care professionals learn this hands-on, during internships– Many cadets have limited life and work experience

Unrealistic expectations– By the time police arrive situations have often resolved or escalated

beyond what talking can accomplish– Time may be better spent on weaponless defense and use of less-than-

lethal weapons

Field training

Field training

A new officer’s first step after the academy A form of OJT (on-the-job training)

– Recruit learns laws and procedures Through modeling, application and repetition In more depth and greater complexity than possible at the academy

– Recruit learns how to deal with citizens and offenders Command presence Evaluate situations for risks and opportunities When and how to apply force and coercion

– Recruit’s suitability is evaluated by experienced officers Is recruit trainable? Does s/he follow directions? Does recruit have the necessary physical and mental acumen? Can the recruit be trusted to exercise appropriate judgment?