HOUSTON (TX) - A VALIDITY STUDY OF POLICE OFFICER SELECTION, TRAINING AND PROMOTION, V 8 - EVALUATION AND VALIDATION OF THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT ACADEMY AND PROBATIONARY TRAINING PERIOD

• NCJ Number: 51912
• Author(s): P R JEANNERET; J A DUBIN
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 201 pages
• Grant Number(s): AC-75-B-0331-57
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: Lifson, Wilson, Ferguson and Winick, Inc
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE ENTRY-LEVEL TRAINING PROGRAM OF THE HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT (TEXAS) IS EVALUATED FOR EFFECTIVENESS, JOB-RELATEDNESS, AND EFFICIENCY. THE PREDICTIVE ABILITY OF THE ACADEMY'S TESTS IS ALSO DETERMINED.

Abstract

THE TRAINING PROGRAM CONSISTS OF A FORMAL 16- TO 18-WEEK COURSE AT THE POLICE ACADEMY AND 6 MONTHS OF ON-THE-JOB TRAINING. THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INCLUDED SELECTING TECHNIQUES THAT WOULD PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE DATA FOR EVALUATING THE TRAINING PROCESS, ALTHOUGH CERTAIN CONCLUSIONS (SUCH AS INSTRUCTOR PERFORMANCE) WERE BASED ON RESEARCHERS' JUDGMENT. AN OVERVIEW OF THE TRAINING RESEARCH EVALUATION CRITERIA IS PRESENTED, AND THE TASK-BASED APPROACH TO TRAINING EVALUATION USED IN THE STUDY IS DESCRIBED. OVERALL, THE HOUSTON POLICE TRAINING PROGRAM IS SHOWN TO BE JOB-RELATED, VALID, AND EFFECTIVE. HOWEVER, SOME DEFICIENCIES WERE FOUND IN BOTH THE ACADEMY AND ON-THE-JOB SEGMENTS OF THE PROGRAM (I.E., A SMALL NUMBER OF TASKS WERE TAUGHT INEFFECTIVELY). THE FOLLOWING RECOMMENDATIONS ARE MADE: MORE CAREFUL SELECTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMY TRAINERS ARE NEEDED IN VIEW OF THE DEPENDENCE OF THE TRAINING PROGRAM ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TRAINING OFFICER), SPECIFIC TRAINING OBJECTIVES SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED, ACTIVE CLASSROOM PARTICIPATION SHOULD BE STIMULATED, PRATICAL IMPLICATIONS SHOULD BE EMPHASIZED OVER THEORY AND CONCEPTS, AND A GREATER DEGREE OF STANDARDIZATION AMONG TRAINERS AND SUBJECT MATTER SHOULD BE INITIATED. APPENDIXES CONTAIN STUDY DATA AND INSTRUMENTS AND MINIMUM TRAINING STANDARDS FOR OFFICERS. TABULAR DATA ARE INCLUDED.