Investigation of Biographical Information as a Predictor of Employment Termination Among Law Enforcement Officers

• NCJ Number: 212744
• Journal: Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: Fall 2005 Pages: 1-7
• Author(s): Adrianne M. Brennan; Robert D. Davis; Cary D. Rostow
• Date Published: 2005
• Length: 7 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the relationship between pre-employment biographical information on law enforcement candidates and subsequent job termination due to officer misconduct.

Abstract

A convenience sample of 2,965 law enforcement candidates was obtained from a professional police psychology corporation in Louisiana. All of the candidates had been administered the Matrix - Psychological Uniform Law Enforcement Selection Evaluation (M-PULSE). The questionnaire/interview component of the M-PULSE provided data on past psychological events (treatment for substance abuse or mental illness); military history (type of discharge, courts martial); arrests and convictions for criminal activity; and personal habits. All members of the sample were administered the M-PULSE between November 1997 and November 2003. A follow-up supervisory questionnaire on each participant was obtained every 6 months following the initial evaluation. For the purpose of this study, "job termination" was defined as the discharge by appropriate authority for cause or forced resignation due to departmental request as a result of some form of officer misconduct. The findings show that several biographical variables correlated significantly with later termination; however, in order to have a direct link to job termination a finding should account for at least 10 percent of the variance; no biographical variable reached this level; the largest correlation obtained accounted for approximately 2 percent of the variance. Results of the regression equation found that a combination of biographical variables, at best, accounted for only 4.5 percent of the variance associated with job termination. Thus, the use of biographical information as a sole predictor of future serious police misconduct is unsupported. The use of additional data sources is required for practical forecasting of future job performance. 5 tables and 13 references