NCJ Number
218298
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 34 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2007 Pages: 34,36,41
Date Published
April 2007
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the importance and use of standardized police recruit preemployment screening assessments.
Abstract
Preemployment screening assessments have become crucial for police departments seeking to reduce citizen complaints, problematic officer behavior, claims of discriminatory hiring practices, and even civil rights complaints and lawsuits. Preemployment screening tools measure a variety of human characteristics and potentials, such as cognitive abilities, emotional stability, personality, and self-control. The use of screening tools not only protects the department from discriminatory claims, they also help save the department valuable training resources since they assure that only the best recruits are trained for the job. The author discusses the importance of using standardized and well-evaluated assessment tools in the preemployment screening process. A textbox within the article explains how to choose the best assessment tools while another textbox identifies four companies that produce police officer preemployment screening tools and describes the tools they have developed. The author cautions that any preemployment assessment tool used by departments should meet a number of requirements, including the requirement that they measure what they say they will measure, that they reliably predict behavior and performance, and that the results are consistent over time for the same groups of people. Throughout the article different police departments share their experiences using preemployment screening assessments.