NCJ Number
88655
Date Published
1979
Length
294 pages
Annotation
A task inventory was completed from a survey of patrol officers in almost 200 Michigan law enforcement agencies, and supervisors supplied ratings on the same task inventory for factors relating to importance and training priority, with a view toward the design of employee selection and training procedures for Michigan law enforcement officers.
Abstract
The opening section of the report discusses the design, circulation, and administration of the general survey instruments through and including data collection. The definition of the research population and description of the construction of the sampling plan is followed by a discussion of the development of the survey instruments and the pilot-testing of the instruments. The section concludes with a detailed description of the characteristics and qualifications of the respondents. Following the presentation of data analyses and findings, the use of the job analysis data base is explained. One of the primary purposes of the study was to develop a data base to facilitate decisionmaking on the content of basic training. Tasks which require related actions and which should logically be addressed at the same time in training were grouped. The tasks within each task group were evaluated to determine how critical they are for each type of traditional agency. Those tasks meeting the criteria across all eight traditional agency tyes were considered to be statewide or 'core' tasks. A data file was also developed to document the types of incidents and complaints to which officers respond, and a section of the data file provides documentation on officer use of 92 types of vehicles and equipment. The section of the survey on sources of information was designed to identify which of the 30 different types of reading material are used by officers as part of their job. In addition to information about core tasks, the survey also collected information on non-core and agency-specific tasks. The appendixes contain a bibliography of 24 listings and details of the survey and the data.