The task of strengthening police training regimens to match expanding duties and technologies, while simultaneously budgeting for such training, has become more urgent in recent years (Wilson et al., 2010a). To serve contemporary community and organizational needs, there is an increased need to make police officers more adaptable to unforeseen and rapidly-unfolding situations, and to work with increasingly diverse populations. Additionally, training for expert performance has been lacking in police organizations due to organizational inattention to the importance of such training, as well as its increasing cost (Glenn et al., 2005). Industrial and organizational psychologists have touted the need for training for adaptive expertise, or a skill encompassing both skills sets in a singular theoretical perspective, yet training tasks and programs to develop this skill have been the subject of debate. Despite promising results in similar fields, these training programs have not been attempted in police workforce situations. Moreover, evaluations of training programs designed to target skills for adaptive expertise are few.In this case study, a training regimen targeting adaptive expertise skills was initiated, developed, delivered, and evaluated in conjunction with a mid-size police agency in a large Midwestern town over the course of one year. The project encompassed a variety of critical tasks related to both the training delivery and evaluation of training for adaptive expertise. Project goals were developed by the host agency with researcher assistance, and were derived from prerequisites for adaptive expertise outlined in taxonomical literature. The training tasks and outcomes were created by training division staff with researcher oversight, and observation of training provided data used in evaluation. Additionally, a quasi-experiment was embedded in the training modules themselves, which took three months to deliver and targeted distinct skills related to the development of adaptive expertise. Finally, pre- and post-training interviews with training staff and officer participants provided qualitative data to contrast with quasi-experimental results. The process of evaluation is outlined and described in the document alongside research findings. Since the project consisted of a new research-practitioner partnership between university researchers and the police agency's training division, the evaluation includes additional comment on the process by which this project developed.Because training of this nature normally occurs in police work during in-service training of experienced individuals, project findings are discussed in light of professional development objectives present in police organizations. Specifically, the impact of the training on the development of adaptability skills was seen as strong, but the training's effect on the development of expert knowledge was not observed. This result has important implications not only for the continuing study of adaptive expertise as a singular entity, but for the renewed emphasis on skills development in police work for those persons seeking to further their careers. Project outcome measures are detailed and statistical analyses of the quasi-experimental portion are contrasted with qualitative findings to support these conclusions. Suggestions for future study, including theoretical exploration of adaptive expertise and the importance of this theory for police organizations, are included.
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