Volunteer Police: What Predicts Confidence in Training?

Dobrin, Adam; Wolf, Ross; Pepper, Ian K.; Fallik, Seth W.

doi:10.1177/0887403417749875

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

(32 reference statements)

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“…Some Police Community Support Officer's (PCSO's) and SCs who were joining as new police officers were often criticised by the trainers in this study for their complacency in the classroom. As both of these groups would have already undergone similar, albeit shorter training courses themselves, possibly in the same classrooms and with some of the same staff, they may have an increased level of confidence in their ability than those from non-police backgrounds – this is especially true if their own training was recent (Dobrin et al ., 2019). Additionally, coming from a working background where PCSOs and SCs are sometimes taken for granted by their warranted officer colleagues, suddenly being a room with recruits with no policing experience may encourage over confidence (Moore and Schatz, 2017; The Guardian, 2016).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We do employ some morons”: police trainers' opinions on recruitment procedures

Sweeting

Cole

2023

PIJPSM

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PurposePolice training is in a period of transition, requiring new recruits to already have, or work towards, a policing degree. However, recruitment procedures have not significantly changed in the past few decades. With psychometric testing commonplace in North America and Australasia to help ensure the right recruits are selected, this research seeks to understand if police trainers feel there is scope for a similar process in the United Kingdom (UK).Design/methodology/approachTwenty-five police training staff across four different police forces took part in a total of six focus groups to discuss views on this and other areas of recruitment.FindingsResults indicated that police trainers are concerned about the quality and aptitude of recruits. Support was given for the introduction of formal psychometric testing to prevent unsuitable candidates from successfully joining and/or to give trainers better insight into the personalities of their students.Originality/valueThere was general concern from female trainers that the police environment new recruits entered still bore elements of covert sexism. Trainers' views on reforms to police recruitment, the implications of this and areas for future study are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“We do employ some morons”: police trainers' opinions on recruitment procedures

Sweeting

Cole

2023

PIJPSM

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“…Some volunteer police in the USA find the role to be a way to gather the experience necessary to apply for full-time positions (Wolf, Albrecht et al, 2015). However, because many jurisdictions in the USA require that volunteer police have the same training as their full-time counterparts (Dobrin, Wolf, Pepper and Fallik, 2017), and because some agencies allow volunteer police to work paid duty assignments in addition to their volunteer service (Wolf, Albrecht et al, 2015) separated or retired full-time police may also continue their involvement in policing through volunteer units. A 2015 study of sworn volunteers in sheriff’s offices in the USA found that the primary reason that all respondents were motivated to serve in this role was to be involved with their community (Wolf, Albrecht et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative case study of Reserve Deputies in a Florida sheriff’s office and Special Constables in an English police force

Britton

Wolf

Callender

2018

International Journal of Police Science & Management

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Volunteers operating as ‘sworn’ police personnel with full policing powers are a common feature of policing organizations in many countries, including Special Constables in the UK and Reserve and Auxiliary police officers and deputy sheriffs in many law enforcement agencies in the USA. There has been only limited research into the experience of serving as a volunteer in such policing roles in either the US or UK settings, together with very little comparative research into volunteer officer experience across different international settings. This article presents a small-scale, comparative qualitative case study based upon interviews with volunteers from a Reserve Unit in a sheriff’s office in Florida and with volunteer Special Constables from an English police force, exploring their perspectives and experiences of volunteering in their respective policing organizations. The research identifies key differences between the settings in respect of past experience and volunteer pathways, models of training and confidence of operational capability, development and management of roles, the opportunities to develop specialization for volunteers, and leadership. The article points to the value of comparative research in police voluntarism and calls for more research in this area.

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We Are All Police—Abu Dhabi Police Community Engagement Initiative

Al Manhali,

Al Kaabi,

Al Hanaee

2022

Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice

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Globally, the concept of community policing while applied in a myriad of customized strategies to meet the needs of individual environments is underpinned by common objectives, which include engaging the community to complement a core business of policing, community safety. In parallel, police agencies of all sizes and nationalities have developed a range of targeted campaigns to support and enhance community engagement with police to contribute to building safe communities. The combination of ‘soft power’ or ‘soft’ policing strategies with community policing campaigns is a central tenant of the Abu Dhabi Police, We Are All Police initiative. This article presents the journey of the We Are All Police initiative and the outcome for more than 200 nationalities combining in a 1.48 million population of Abu Dhabi residents. Aligning the vision, aims, purpose, acceptance, and impact of the Abu Dhabi Police community-based strategy contributes to informing deliberations of policy and practice in the policing of a modern society.

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Volunteer Police: What Predicts Confidence in Training?

Cited by 4 publications

References 23 publications

“We do employ some morons”: police trainers' opinions on recruitment procedures

“We do employ some morons”: police trainers' opinions on recruitment procedures

A comparative case study of Reserve Deputies in a Florida sheriff’s office and Special Constables in an English police force

We Are All Police—Abu Dhabi Police Community Engagement Initiative

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