Law Enforcement Hiring Practices and Narrowing the Applicant Pool

Decker, Lisa; Huckabee, Robert G.

doi:10.1300/j076v29n03_03

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Patterson (2002) studied a mid-sized urban law enforcement agency in the northeastern US and found the same number of negative work events and the same amount of stress among officers regardless of whether they served in the military. Likewise, two studies of police training academies (Decker and Huckabee, 1999;White, 2008) concluded that military experience had no significant impact on officer performance in an academy setting. Such findings are surprising when considering that the structure of a police academy often resembles that of entry-level military training.…”

Section: Stress and Burnout In Policingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress and burnout in policing: does military experience matter?

Ivie

Garland

2011

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &Amp; Management

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Purpose -Expanding on earlier research, this paper aims to develop a more complete understanding of military experience as it relates to stress and burnout in law enforcement. The current study examines whether influences on stress and burnout vary between officers with military experience and officers without a military background. Design/methodology/approach -Data for this study were obtained from earlier research on police staff at a Northeastern metropolitan city. A combination of analytic methods, including t-tests and multivariate regression analysis, were used to explore the effects of variables on stress and burnout among military and non-military officers. Findings -The results indicate that negative exposures to demanding events influenced burnout for all officers. In contrast, negative exposures affected stress levels for those officers with no military experience. Coping techniques were important predictors of stress and burnout for both groups; however, contrary to expectations, police experience in years was not significant in any model. Demographic controls had no influence on stress and burnout for either group, with the exception of gender, which was a significant predictor of stress only for the non-military group. Research limitations/implications -This research has implications for police departments interested in developing group-based strategies for reducing stress and burnout among officers. The findings are limited in their capacity for wide geographical generalization, however, because this study represents the views of only one department. Originality/value -In contrast with previous empirical work, the findings here demonstrate that military experience can have a favorable influence on the work outcomes of police officers. This study suggests that officers with military backgrounds are less stressed when faced with demanding situations and that military experience provides female officers with an edge in handling work-related stressors.

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Section: Stress and Burnout In Policingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Stress and burnout in policing: does military experience matter?

Ivie

Garland

2011

Policing: An International Journal of Police Strategies &Amp; Management

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“…A vast majority of police departments still adopt the high school degree or GED to recruit their officers (Lumb, 1994;Sanders, Hughes, & Langworthy, 1995). Decker and Huckabee (1999) indicated that approximately 77% of police applicants were disqualified from the selection process if the police department required a 4-year college degree as the minimum educational standard. Despite the concern about an educational requirement that might be deemed as discriminatory against racial minority applicants, Carter and Sapp (1990) found that the overall educational level between White and non-White applicants was virtually comparable.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Racial Minority Applicants Have a Better Chance to Be Recruited in Predominately White Neighborhoods? An Empirical Study

2005

Police Quarterly

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For decades, police departments across the nation have made notable progress in aggressively recruiting racial minority officers and female officers. The main controversy is primarily centered on the adverse impact of recruitrelated testing, such as psychological tests, on racial minority applicants. This study examines racial disparity in the police selection process by analyzing the effect of race on police department recruitment decisions. Results show that the applicant’s race is not correlated with the department recruitment decision. This study also finds that racial minority applicants are less likely to be recommended by psychologists on the basis of psychological testing and assessment. Interestingly, a psychologist’s recommendation does not have any significant impact on police recruitment decisions among the non-White group. Most importantly, this study finds that racial minority applicants in the police selection process have no apparent preferential privilege in a predominately White community.

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“…See National Student Clearinghouse Research Center (2020). https:// nscresearchcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/Completions_Report_2020.pdf 10 An assessment of the Indianapolis police department over twenty years ago found that 31 percent of successful applicants had prior military experience (Decker & Huckabee, 1999).…”

Section: Non-traditional Experience Credit Compared To Internship/practical Creditsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rethinking Criminal Justice Education: Applying Experience Credits towards CJ Degree Completion – Generates Dollars, but Does It Make Sense?

Hummer

Byrne

2021

Journal of Criminal Justice Education

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This article addresses a deceptively simple two-part question: what are the desired core skills obtained by completing the requirements for an undergraduate degree in criminal justice? And is it possible to obtain these skills outside the traditional university setting? Awarding academic credit for training, time spent in occupational roles, or life experiences, has been an oft-discussed topic, and the practice is particularly germane for criminal justice programs due to the large proportion of adult learners returning to school for degree completion or to earn an advanced credential to broaden their career options. The history of experienced-based credits in higher education programs is discussed within the framework of how CJ programs can be reimagined in ways that support likely changes in how future personnel are recruited and educated in the wake of recent deadly force incidents involving police and nonwhite citizens, and efforts to address the country's reliance on mass incarceration.

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Law Enforcement Hiring Practices and Narrowing the Applicant Pool

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

Stress and burnout in policing: does military experience matter?

Stress and burnout in policing: does military experience matter?

Do Racial Minority Applicants Have a Better Chance to Be Recruited in Predominately White Neighborhoods? An Empirical Study

Rethinking Criminal Justice Education: Applying Experience Credits towards CJ Degree Completion – Generates Dollars, but Does It Make Sense?

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