NCJ Number
57847
Date Published
1977
Length
11 pages
Annotation
AN EFFECTIVE SCREENING PROCEDURE TO REDUCE COSTS ASSOCIATED WIIH SEPARATION OF PERSONNEL WHO CANNOT ADAPT TO SECURITY POLICE WORK IS NECESSARY.
Abstract
UNTIMELY ATTRITION FROM MILITARY SERVICE REPRESENTS A GREAT FINANCIAL LOSS; BY EFFECTIVELY SCREENING PERSONS SEEKING ENTRY INTO THE POLICE SECURITY FIELD, COSTS DUE TO ATTRITION COULD BE SUBSTANTIALLY REDUCED. THIS STUDY WAS DEVISED IN AN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP SUCH A SCREENING TEST. THE SAMPLE USED CONSISTED OF 4,502 AIRMEN ASSIGNED TO THE SECURITY POLICE FIELD. SEVERAL TYPES OF TESTS WERE GIVEN TO THEM TO MEASURE PERSONAL HISTORY, ATTITUDINAL INTEREST, VOCATIONAL INTERESTS, AND APTITUDE. MULTIPLE LINEAR REGRESSION TESTS WERE PERFORMED TO DETERMINE THE USEFULNESS OF THE APTITUDINAL AND INVENTORY RESPONSE. AN OPTIMUM CUTOFF SCORE WAS DETERMINED WHICH WOULD HELP TO IDENTIFY MALADAPTIVE SECURITY POLICE PERSONNEL. AN EVALUATION WAS THEN MADE OF THE POTENTIAL SAVINGS TO BE ACCRUED FROM THE IDENTIFICATION OF POSSIBLE ELIMINEES AGAINST THE ADDITIONAL TIME REQUIRED TO UTILIZE A MORE COMPREHENSIVE SCREENING TECHNIQUE. BASED ON THE REGRESSION ANALYSIS, IT APPEARED THAT A SECURITY POLICE SELECTION COMPOSITE COULD BE DEVELOPED FROM APTITUDE, BIOGRAPHICAL, AND PERSONAL HISTORY DATA WHICH WOULD IDENTIFY POTENTIAL FAILURES. OF THOSE WHO WERE ADMINISTERED THE EXPERIMENTAL TEST 94 PERCENT WERE CORRECTLY IDENTIFIED AND COMPLETED THE TRAINING COURSE SUCCESSFULLY. ONLY 1 PERCENT OF THOSE WHO FINISHED THE TRAINING COURSE HAD BEEN IDENTIFIED BY THE TESTS AS POTENTIAL FAILURES. THE REGRESSION MODEL DEVELOPED REPRESENTS ONLY AN INITIAL EFFORT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SELECTION METHODOLOGY FOR SECURITY POLICE PERSONNEL. TABLES ARE INCLUDED. (STB)