NCJ Number
56256
Date Published
1978
Length
186 pages
Annotation
IN 1977, POLICE OFFICERS AND CITIZENS OF BIRMINGHAM, ALA., WERE ASKED TO RATE POLICE PERFORMANCE; THESE RATINGS WERE COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER AND WITH RESULTS FROM PREEMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS.
Abstract
ALL 400 PATROL OFFICERS WERE GIVEN AN OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE. BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERFORMANCE DATA SHEETS WERE COMPLETED BY 264 AND 148 COMPLETED ADDITIONAL SELF-RATINGS AND PEER RATINGS. OF THOSE WHO COMPLETED ALL INSTRUMENTS, 79 HAD TAKEN A BATTERY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL TESTS AT TIME OF EMPLOYMENT; THESE WERE AVAILABLE FOR STUDY. THE TELEPHONE CITIZEN SURVEY SUCCESSFULLY CONTACTED 70 PERCENT OF A CITY-WIDE RANDOM SAMPLE FOR 917 RESPONSES. THE POLICE OFFICERS FELT THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENTS OF A GOOD JOB WERE GROUPS OF VARIABLES WHICH COULD BE LABELED GOOD JUDGMENT IN STRESS SITUATIONS, CAUTIOUS PERSISTENCE, AND ADMINISTRATIVE COOPERATION. SEVERAL ITEMS MAKING UP THE COMPONENT STRUCTURES LOADED ON MORE THAN ONE, INDICATING FACTORIAL COMPLEXITY. WHEN ASKED TO RATE THEIR PEERS CLUSTERS OF VARIABLES AGAIN APPEARED. THESE WERE LABELED CAUTIOUS PROFESSIONALISM, AND COOPERATION AMONG PEERS. RATINGS AMONG OFFICERS FOR THEIR PEERS AND OVERALL RATINGS FOR PERFORMANCE OF THE PRECINCT DISTRICT WERE QUITE CONSISTENT. WHEN CITIZEN RATINGS WERE COMPARED WITH OFFICER RATINGS FOR THE FOUR PRECINCTS, THERE WAS STRONG CORRELATION. NONE OF THESE RANKINGS CORRELATED WITH THE PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST DATA OBTAINED AT TIME OF EMPLOYMENT. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT SUCH TESTS ARE NOT GOOD PREDICTORS OF POLICE PERFORMANCE OR CITIZEN SATISFACTION. APPENDIXES CONTAINING STUDY DATA, TABLES, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (GLR)