NCJ Number
65912
Journal
Canadian Police College Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (1979) Pages: 293-301
Date Published
1979
Length
9 pages
Annotation
RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA COLLECTION RESULTS ARE PRESENTED FROM A 1977 STUDY OF POLICE MANAGER TASKS BY A CANADIAN POLICE ACADEMY.
Abstract
THE STUDY ANALYZED THE POLICE MANAGER'S JOB TO ENSURE THAT COURSES FOR POLICE MANAGERS REFLECTED THE POLICE COMMUNITY'S NEEDS. THE STUDY ASSUMED THAT MANAGERS DEVELOP HYPOTHESES ABOUT THEIR SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT, REWARDS AVAILABLE, AND THE BEST MEANS OF ACHIEVING THE REWARDS. THEY ANTICIPATE EXPECTED OUTCOMES AND REGULATE THEIR BEHAVIOR ACCORDINGLY. UNLIKE LEARNING THEORY, THE FOREGOING THEORY ASSUMES MANAGERS ARE RATIONAL. BUT IT MUST THEN BE ASSUMED THAT THERE ARE ALSO A LIMITED NUMBER OF COURSES OF ACTION AVAILABLE TO POLICE MANAGERS WITHIN A PARTICULAR ORGANIZATION AND ROLES AND STRATEGIES WILL VARY FROM DEPARTMENT TO DEPARTMENT. THUS, THE STUDY ASKS, (1) WHAT ARE THE ROLES OF POLICE MANAGEMENT AND HOW ARE THEY DISTRIBUTED AMONG THE POLICE DEPARTMENTS OF CANADA? (2) HOW ARE THE ROLES PERFORMED? FOR DATA COLLECTION, MANAGERS STUDYING AT THE POLICE COLLEGE PREPARED LISTS OF THEIR ACTIVITIES ON THE JOB. WHEN TRIVIAL, AMBIGUOUS, OR SIMILAR ITEMS WERE DELETED, THE LISTS WERE USED IN FIELD INTERVIEWS OF STAFF IN ONE MEDIUM-SIZED URBAN-RURAL AND ONE SMALL URBAN POLICE FORCE. THE INTERVIEWEES INDICATED WHICH LIST ITEMS THEY HAD AND HAD NOT PERFORMED AND DESCRIBED PROCEDURES FOR PERFORMING COMPLETED TASKS. IT WAS FOUND THAT ABOUT HALF THE ITEMS ON THE LIST PREPARED BY THE ACADEMY STUDENTS COULD ELICIT COMPLETE JOB DESCRIPTIONS. FINALLY, 167 MANAGERS FROM ACROSS CANADA WERE INTERVIEWED WITH A FINAL LIST OF TASKS AND WERE ASKED WHAT SKILL, KNOWLEDGE, AND EXPERIENCE WERE NEEDED TO PERFORM THEM. REFERENCES AND TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (PAP)