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University M icrofilm s International 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 4 8 1 0 6 USA St. John's Road, Tyler’s Green High Wycombe. Bucks, England HP10 8HR 77 - 11,696 POLAND, James M ichael, 1937AN EXPLORATORY ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIAL BACKGROUND FACTORS AND PERFORMANCE CRITERIA IN THE MICHIGAN STATE POLICE. Michigan S tate U n iv e rs ity , P h .D ., 1976 P o litic a l Science, p u b lic adm inistraton Xerox University Microfilm s, AnnArbor, Michigan4 8 ioe A N E X P L O R A T O R Y A N A L Y S IS O F TH E R E L A T IO N S H IP BETW EEN S O C IA L B A C K G R O U N D F A C T O R S A N D P E R F O R M A N C E C R IT E R IA IN T H E M IC H IG A N S TA TE P O L IC E By James M ichael Poland A D IS S E R T A T IO N Subm itted to M ichigan S ta te U n iversity in p a rtia l fu lfillm e n t of the requirem ents fo r the degree of D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y C ollege o f Social Science 1976 ABSTRACT A N E X P L O R A T O R Y A N A LY S IS O F TH E R E L A T IO N S H IP BETW EEN S O C IA L B A C K G R O U N D F A C T O R S A N D P E R F O R M A N C E C R IT E R IA IN T H E M IC H IG A N STATE P O L IC E By JAMES M IC H A E L P O L A N D This study was conducted a t the M ichigan S ta te P olice D ep artm e n t under a fellowship aw ard from the L aw Enforcem ent Assistance Association, It is p a rt o f a continuing research p roject devoted to understanding various aspects of police re c ru itm e n t, selection and prom otion policies. This research has com pared th e background ch aracteristics of two random ly selected cohorts in the M ichigan S tate Police D ep artm en t w ith availab le measures of th e ir o n -th e-jo b perform ance to determ ine the typ e of candidate who is lik ely to display sp ecific patterns o f "positive" job perform ance. Previous research varies in q u ality fro m speculative th eo rizin g to sophisti­ cated testing of theory in em pirical studies. T o date the most com prehensive study o f police background ch aracteristics and actual measures o f on-the-job p e rfo r­ mance has been conducted by Cohen & Chaiken. The Cohen & C haiken study exam ined police background ch aracteristics (p redictor variables) and perform ance measures by analyzing results from a rep resen tative cohort of the N e w Y ork C ity Police D e p a rtm e n t. H ow rep resen tative any single cohort o f police m ay be o f other police cohorts is only speculative. The question is w hether a single cohort James M ichael Poland analysis has any measure o f generality beyond the cohort its e lf. This study w ill exam ine tw o specific cohorts, 1964 and 1969. These tw o cohorts are divided into three groups; the ac tiv e cohort, the in active cohort and recru it school dropouts. A to ta l of four-hundred and th irty nine candidates w ere appointed to the Michigan S ta te P olice D ep artm en t in the tw o years, 1964 and 1969. The m ain focus of the study is on the a c tiv e cohort. S ixty-six background ch aracteristics (independent variables) w ere compared to tw e n ty measures (dependent variables). The results of the 1969 perform ance cohort w ere then compared to the results o f 1964 cohort in order to cross-validate the analysis and to determ ine differences over tim e . The relationship between predictor variables and individual perform ance measures w ere determ ined by cross-tabulatious and sim ple correlations. The regression program used in this study is the LS Step or stepwise least squares program developed by the M ichigan S tate U n iversity C om puter C e n te r. The stepwise procedure is com pleted when no independent variables m eet the deletion c rite ria and no independent variables m eet the addition c rite ria . The results of the study suggest th at it is feasible to p red ict police perform ance fo r tw o distinct cohorts in the same police organization. The most consistent predictors of fu tu re police perform ance id e n tifie d by this study are age a t entry level, education a t en try level and probationary period evaluation. Perhaps the most significan t finding of this study has been th a t both cohorts of analysis produced quite sim ilar results, suggesting th a t candidates in 1964 are not much d iffe re n t than in 1969. In fa c t there is m arked s im ila rity in the background ch aracteristics of the tw o cohorts. indicates th a t a cohort analysis w ithin police This cross-validation of results organizations m ay have some g e n erality beyond a single cohort. This study dem onstrates th a t police recru iters in the M ichigan S tate Police look for a ce rta in "type" of candidate. D E D IC A T IO N To Barbara and M ichael who understood the in ten t despite the content. ACKNO W LEDG EM ENTS This s tu d / could not have been conducted w ithou t the com plete support and interest of the M ichigan S tate P olice D e p a rtm e n t. The author is p a rtic u la rly indebted to Lieu ten an t R ich ie Davis who endorsed the proposal and discussed w ith the author the aspects of police selection of concern to the M ichigan S tate Police. The author also extends his appreciation to s ta ff m embers who assisted the author in locating and in te rp re ta tin g police personnel d ata. The author is indebted to D r. P hilip M . Marcus, D r. C harles Press and D r. V icto r G . S trecher who o ffe re d th eir insights, ideas and c ritic is m conceptualization and research design o f the study. during the D r. R ob ert C . T ro jan o w icz, C hairm an, as alw ays, gave and provided p ercep tive guidance and assistance th a t was of substantial b e n e fit tow ard the fu lfillm e n t of this research. The author also wishes to express his deepest g ratitu d e to Ms. Nova Green, fo r the ed ito rial and an aly tica l assistance th a t this project required. Most of all the author would like to express his sincere appreciation to his w ife , B arbara, for w ithou t her and the many sacrifices she m ade, this disseration would not have been possible. TABLE O F CO NTENTS Page LIST O F TA B LES ........................................................................................................ v iii LIST O F F I G U R E S ........................................................................................................ xi C hapter I. IN T R O D U C T IO N ...................................................................... STATEM ENT OF PROBLEM ............................ I N E E D F O R S T U D Y ........................................................ 7 A n a ly tic a l Problem s Legal R a m ific a tio n s S ta tis tic a l D e te rm in a tio n o f D iscrim in atio n ............................ A rre s t and C onviction R e c o r d s ........................................................ Physical R e q u ir e m e n t s ............................ E d u c a t i o n ........................................................ Purpose ........................................................ 8 14 TE R M S A N D D E F IN IT IO N S ............................ O R G A N IZ A T IO N O F R E M A IN D E R OF STU D Y II. I R E V IE W O F T H E L I T E R A T U R E .......................................... IN T R O D U C T IO N 16 17 18 18 19 20 22 23 ........................................................ 23 C u rre n t Methods o f P olice S e l e c t i o n ........................................................ 24 D E S C R IP T IV E STU D IES .......................................... 26 I n t e l l i g e n c e ........................................................ Vocational I n t e r e s t .......................................... P ersonality C h a ra c te ris tic s . . . . Biographical I n f o r m a t i o n ............................ 26 30 32 35 iv Page V A L ID IT Y S T U D IE S ...................................................... 38 M ental T e s ts ....................................................... Personality Tests ......................................... Biographical I n f o r m a t i o n ........................... Conclusions and Im plications . . . . 38 43 46 55 S U M M A R Y OF L IT E R A T U R E REVIEW III. . . . . DESIG N OF S TU D Y 65 G E N E R A L C O N S ID ER A TIO N S ............................ 65 Source of D ata ......................................... The Cohort Analysis ............................ D efining P erform ance 65 66 68 R E SE A R C H SETTIN G ......................................... R A T IO N A L E FO R SELEC TIN G VA RIAB LES IV . 58 71 . 73 P redictor V a r ia b le s ......................................... P erform ance Variables ........................... Missing In fo rm a tio n ......................................... General Research Question . . . . D a ta Analysis 76 78 80 80 81 A NA LYSIS OF D A T A IN T R O D U C T IO N Age Age Age Age vs. vs. vs. vs. ....................................................... 82 ...................................................... 82 Absenteeism ............................ D epartm ental Awards . . . . Assaults on the O ffic e r . . . . C areer Type ............................ 83 86 87 88 E D U C A T IO N A L A T T A IN M E N T VS. PERFORM ANCE ......................................... 89 Educational A tta in m e n t vs. Use of F i r e a r m s ....................................................... Educational A tta in m e n t vs C itize n Corn p la in ts . . . . . . . . . . . . . Educational A tta in m e n t vs. Auto Accidents on Duty ............................ Educational A tta in m e n t vs. C areer Type ......................................... 90 92 93 93 M A R IT A L STATUS VS. P E R F O R M A N C E . . . 95 INDEBTEDNESS VS. P E R F O R M A N C E 96 v . . . . Page P R E V IO U S R E S ID E N C E S VS. P E R F O R M A N C E ........................................................ Previous Residences vs . Absenteeism . Previous Residences vs . C itiz e n C o m p la in ts ........................................................ M IL IT A R Y B A C K G R O U N D VS. P E R F O R M A N C E ........................................................ M ilita r y Background vs. D ep artm en tal ........................................................ Awards M ilita ry Background vs. Assaults on the O ffic e r M ilita ry Background vs. A uto A ccidents on D uty ........................................................ M ilita ry Background vs. L a te r E d u c a t i o n ........................................................ 100 100 100 101 102 102 103 104 O C C U P A T IO N A L H IS T O R Y VS. P E R F O R M A N C E ........................................................ 106 E M P L O Y M E N T D IS C IP L IN A R Y R E C O R D VS. P E R F O R M A N C E .......................................... 107 P R IO R T R A F F IC OFFENSES VS. P E R F O R M A N C E ........................................................ 110 R E C R U IT S C H O O L SCORE VS. P E R F O R M A N C E ........................................................ 113 R e c ru it School Score vs. C aree r Type . R e c ru it School Score vs. D u ty -In ­ curred Injuries R e c ru it School Score vs. In -S ervice Schools ........................................................ 115 SIBLINGS VS. P E R F O R M A N C E ............................ 116 Siblings Siblings Siblings Siblings Siblings Siblings vs. C itiz e n C om plaints . . . . vs. O n -D u ty A uto A ccidents . vs. D e p a rtm e n ta l Awards . vs. D u ty -In c u rre d Injuries . vs. C a re e r T y p e ............................ vs. In -S e rv ic e Schools . . . . S U M M A R Y O F C R O S S -T A B U L A T IO N S A N A L Y S IS O F R E G R ES S IO N P R O G R A M P R E D IC T IN G P O L IC E P E R F O R M A N C E 114 115 117 118 119 119 120 121 . . . . 122 . . . . 123 . 123 . . . Page Findings ........................................................ P olice P erform ance P ro file s . . . . Selecting Candidates fo r P olice R e s p o n s ib ilit ie s ............................ V I. C O N C LU S IO N S A N D R E C O M M E N D A T IO N S C O N C LU S IO N S . . . . ........................................................ R E C O M M E N D A T IO N S .......................................... NEED FOR FU R T H E R RESEARCH . . . . 125 135 137 143 143 148 150 A P P E N D IX A - - M IN IM U M E N T R A N C E R E Q U IR E M E N T S . . . . 153 A P P E N D IX B - - P O L IC E S E L E C T IO N ......................................................... 155 A P P E N D IX C - - C O D IN G G U ID E L IN E S ............................................ 157 A P P E N D IX D - - C O R R E L A T IO N M A T R I X ........................................... 159 B IB L IO G R A P H Y ................................................................................................. vii 165 L IS T O F TA B LES Design o f Study . . . . 72 Age vs. A bsenteeism , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort . . , . 84 Age vs. Absenteeism , 1969 A c tiv e C ohort . . . . 85 1964 A c tiv e C o h o r t ............................ 86 Age vs. assaults on the O ffic e rs , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ........................................................ 88 Age vs. . . . . 89 Educational A tta in m e n t vs . Use o f F ire a rm s , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ........................................................ 90 Educational A tta in m e n t vs . C itiz e n C om plaints, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ........................................................ 92 Educational A tta in m e n t vs. A uto A ccidents on D u ty , 1969 A c tiv e C o h o r t .......................................... 93 Educational A tta in m e n t vs . C aree r T y p e , 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ........................................................ 94 M a rita l Status vs. C itiz e n C om plaints, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ...................................................................... 95 Indebtedness vs. Use o f F ire a rm s , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ................................................................................... 96 Indebtedness vs. A bsenteeism , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ................................................................................... 98 Indebtedness vs. A bsenteeism , 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ................................................................................... 99 Age vs. A w ards, C aree r T y p e , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort Previous Residences vs . A bsenteeism , 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ...................................................................... viii Page Previous Residence vs. C itiz e n C om plaints, 1964 A c tiv e C ohort .............................................. 101 M ilita ry Background vs. D ep artm e n ta l A w ards, 1964 A c tiv e C ohort .............................................. 102 M ilita ry Background vs. Assaults on the O ff ic e r , 1964 A c tiv e C o h o r t ................................. 103 M ilita ry Background vs. A uto A ccidents, .............................................. 1969 A c tiv e C ohort 104 M ilita ry Background vs. L a te r Education, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort .............................................. 105 Last Occupation vs. C itiz e n C om plaints, 1964 A c tiv e Cohort .............................................. 106 Em ploym ent D isciplinary Record vs. A uto A ccidents on D u ty , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort . . 107 Em ploym ent D isciplinary R ecord vs. Assaults on the O ffic e r , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ................... 108 Em ploym ent D isciplinary R ecord vs. Reprim ands, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort .............................................. 109 Em ploym ent D isciplinary Record vs. Assaults on the O ffic e r , 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ................... 109 P rio r A uto A ccidents vs. Use of F irearm s on D u ty , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ................................. I 10 P rio r Auto A ccidents vs. A w ards, 1964 A c tiv e C ohort .............................................. III P rio r A uto A ccidents vs. R eprim ands, 1969 A c tiv e Cohort .............................................. 111 P rio r A uto A ccidents vs . A uto Accidents on D u ty , 1969 A c tiv e C o h o r t ................................. 112 P rio r Moving T r a ffic T ickets vs. A u to A cciden ts, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ................... I 13 R e c ru it School Score vs. C aree r T y p e , 1969 A c tiv e C ohort .............................................. I 14 R e c ru it School Score vs. D u ty -In c u rre d Injuries, 1969 A c tiv e C o h o r t ................................. 115 ix Table Page 33. 34 . 35 . R e c ru it School Scores vs. In -S e rv ic e Schools, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ............................................................. 116 Siblings vs. C itiz e n C om plaints, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ...................................... 117 Siblings vs. A uto A ccidents on D u ty , 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ............................................................. 118 36. Siblings 37. Siblings vs. D u ty -In c u rre d Injuries, 1964 A c tiv e C ohort ............................................................. 120 Siblings vs. C aree r T y p e , 1969 A c tiv e C ohort .......................................................................................... 121 38. 39 . 40. vs. A w ards, 1964 A c tiv e C ohort . . . . 119 Siblings vs. In -S e rv ic e Training Schools, 1969 A c tiv e C ohort ................................... 122 Regression Results fo r Each P erform ance M easure, 1964 A c tiv e C o h o r t .......................................... 126 Regression Results fo r Each P erform ance M easu re, 1969 A c tiv e C o h o r t .......................................... 129 42. Background Factors as P redictors 134 43. Comparison 41. of Candidates - T o tal C ohort x . . . . 140 LIST O F FIG U R ES Figure Page I. P redictor V a r ia b le s ..................................................................... 73 2. P erform ance Variables 75 xi ....................................................... CHAPTER I IN T R O D U C T IO N S T A T E M E N T O F T H E P R O B LE M In the last decade several national commissions have been concerned w ith upgrading the q u ality of police personnel.^ It is one of the ce n tral topics in the re la tiv e ly new fie ld o f m anpower and human resource developm ent in crim in al justice. costs. 2 Human resources account fo r 80 to 90 percent of present-day police How a police agency selects and manages these resources then becomes a crucial fa c to r in the ad m in istration o f ju stic e. N ew strategies, new technology, and even substantial fed eral governm ental support w ill m ake lit t le d iffe re n c e if the police cannot a ttr a c t applicants who know how to do the job, w ant to do the job and The President's Commission on Law E n fo rcem en t and A d m in istratio n of Justice, Task Fo rce R ep o rt: The P o lic e . (Washington, D .C .: U.S. Governm ent P rinting O ffic e , 1967); Commission on "Civil Disorders (N ew Y ork: B antam Books, Inc. 1968); N atio n a l Commission on the Causes and Prevention of V iolence, Violence in A m e ric a (Washington, D .C .: U .S. G overnm ent P rin tin g O ffic e , 1969); Advisory Commission on Intergo vernm en tal R elatio n s, P olice R efo rm (Washington, D .C .: U.S. G overnm ent P rin tin g O ffic e , 1971); A m erican B ar Association Standards fo r C rim in al Justice, The Urban P olice Function (N ew Y ork: In s titu te of Judicial A dm inistratio n, 1972); N ational Advisory Commission on C rim in al Justice Stan­ dards and Goals, P olice (W ashington, D .C .: U .S. G overnm ent P rin tin g O ffic e , 1973). 2 R ep o rt of the Advisory Group on P ro d u c tiv ity in Law E n fo rcem ent, O pportunities fo r Im proving P ro d u c tiv ity in P olice Services (Washington, D .C .: N ational Commission on P ro d u c tiv ity , 1973), p. 47. 1 2 and can perform on the job. 3 Law en forcem ent ad m in istrators and social scientists generally agree on the desirab ility of improving police personnel. H ow ever, the choice of methods for selecting police candidates is often a m a tte r oT dispute. Selection c r ite ria range from the e x tre m e of elim in atin g all c r ite ria to the developm ent of elabo rate psychiatric testing. Several techniques, instrum ents, and special c r ite ria have been advocated as means to obtain the best possible candidate. These include: psychological testing,^ use of the polygraph,"* educational a tta in m e n t, ^ background 3 lbid. ^Jack G. C ollins, "A Study o f the Use o f the Hum m -W adsw orth T em p er­ am ent Scale by the Los Angeles P olice D ep a rtm e n t," unpublished M aster's thesis, School of Public A dm in istratio n , U n iv ersity of Southern C a lifo rn ia , 1965. R o b ert Hogan, "A Study of P olice E ffectiven ess," A m erican Psychological Association (Washington, D .C .: June, 1970). R ichard J. Shavelson, e t at, "A C rite rio n Sampling Approach to S electing P atro lm en ," The P o lic e C h ie f, 42 (S ept., 1974), 5 5 -61 . ^R obert J. Ferguson, The S c ie n tific ln fo rm e r(Springfield, III.: Charles C . Thomas, 1971); Frank H o rva th , "Verbal and Nonverbal Clues to Tru th and D eception during Polygraph E xam inations," Journal o f P olice Science and A d m in istratio n , 1,2 (1973), 138-152; Frank H o rva th , "The P olice C andidate Polygraph E xam ination: Considerations fo r the P olice A d m in is tra to r," P o lic e, 16 (June, 1972), 3 3 -39 . ^Ruth Levy, "P redictin g P olice Failures," The Journal of C rim in al L a w , Crim inology and P olice Sciences, 58 (1967), 265-276; G ilm ore Spencer and R o b ert Nichols, "A Study of Chicago P olice R ecruits: V alid atio n o f Selection Procedures," Police C h ie f, 38, (June, 1971), 50-55; Fran klin G. Ashburn and Payton E . W ard, J r., "Education and Training: The M om ent o f T ru th ," P olice C h ie f, 40, (July, 1973), 4 0 43; John M. Trojanow icz and R ob ert C . T ro jano w icz, "The R ole of a C ollege Education in D ecision-M aking," Public Personnel R ev iew , 33 (Jan., 1972), 29 -32 . 3 7 8 9 10 investigation , em ploym ent history, jo b -re la te d testing, m ilita ry record, and physical s ta tu re .' ' H ow ever, these techniques have fa ile d to p red ict the q u a lity o f future job perform ance and length of tenure. The d iffic u lty of predicting the success o f a candidate fo r the position of police o ffic e r is increased by the co n flictin g demands made upon th at role. People have d iffe re n t beliefs and attitu d es about the police o ffic e r. They assign d iffe re n t magnitudes of im portance to each of the functions he perform s and expect these duties to be discharged in a v a rie ty of ways. The police o ffic e r him self has a set of beliefs and attitu d es about his role. twofold: m aintaining James Q. Wilson argues th a t the police role is order and enforcing the law . 12 Wenninger and C lark co rrelate these dual tasks w ith Parsons' tw o kinds of organizational goals—value m aintenance and goal a tta in m e n t. 13 In "value m aintenance," the police d epart­ m ent serves as a "symbolic agency of social c o n tro l."'** When perform ing this p a rt 7 John A. M c A llis te r, "A Study o f the P rediction and M easurem ent of Police Perform ance," unpublished M .P .A . thesis, John Jay C ollege of C rim in al Justice, C ity U niversity o f N ew Y o rk, 1968. ^ S te w art H . Marsh, "V alidating the S election of D eputy S h eriffs," Public Personnel R e v ie w , 23 (Jan., 1963), 4 1 -44 . a Gail Neum an, e t al, "Jo b-R elated Tests and P olice Selection Procedures," Police C h ie f, 41 (F eb ., 1974), 43-66; R obert B. M ills, et al, "S ituational Tests in Police R ec ru it S election," Journal of C rim in a l L a w , C rim inology and P o lice Sciences, 57 (M arc h , 1966), 99-104; David C. M cC lellan d , "Testing fo r C om petence Feather than fo r In tellig en ce," A m erican Psychologist, 28 (Jan., 1973), 1-14. '^ F . Louis V a lla , "P redictin g Tenure of Border P atrol Inspectors," P er­ sonnel A d m in istratio n , 22 (M a rc h -A p ril, 1959), 27 -2 9 . ' ' c . A . Dempsey, "A Study of P olice H eig ht R equirem ents," Texas D e ­ p artm ent of Public S a fe ty , 1974; Raymond L , H oobler and J. A . M cQ ueeny, "A Question of H eig h t," P olice C h ie f, 42, (D e c ., 1973), 4 2 -4 8 . 12 James Q. Wilson, V a rieties H arvard U niversity Press, 1968), p. 16. 13 of P olice Behavior (C am bridge, Mass.: Eugene P . Wenninger and John P . C la rk , "A T h eo retical O rie n ta tio n fo r Police Studies," in Juvenile Gangs in C o n te x t, (ed.) M alcolm W. K lein (Englewood C liffs , N .J .: P re n tic e -H a ll, 1967), pp. 163-171. '**lbid., p. 164. li o f his role, the police o ffic e r atte m p ts to handle police m atte rs w ithout reso rt to the use of law. P olice o ffic e rs have a wide range o f discretionary power. An arm ed robbery, in the eyes o f the police, is unambiguously wrong and a serious offense whereby arm ed robbers a re arrested. But w ith respect to th e ir social control role in situations where an arrest is not always necessary, police exercise discretion w hether to intervene, or i f they do, just how to in terven e. Goal attain m e n t is the cen tral task when the police act as an instrum ental agency of social co n tro l. Then, the police o ffice r's task is to m ake sure th a t laws are obeyed. The lack o f c la rity concerning organizational goals also contributes to the com plexity o f the police role. M arch and Simon hypothesize th a t "the less the subjective o p eratio n a lity of organization al goals, the g re a te r the d iffe re n tia tio n of individual goals in the o rg a n iz a tio n ." ^ O peratio nalizing the goals of the police organization is d iffic u lt in p a rt because of the d iffic u lty of measuring im po rtant differences in the perform ance of individual o ffic e rs . P olice o ffic e rs are usually evaluated on tasks which have an easily id e n tifia b le and q u a n tita tiv e output such as arrest records and number of tr a f f ic tic k e ts w r itte n .* ^ This is not an appropriate c rite ria for work th a t involves much more than w ritin g tic k e ts and making arrests. In addition, the police o ffic e r ’s position in the organization may com p licate his role. In an organization w here the output is p rim a rily service, those who actually perform the service occupy a position at the boundary o f the organization and in te ra c t m ore w ith people outside the organization c e n tra lly lo c a te d .^ than do those m ore Studies have dem onstrated th at persons perform ing tasks a t ^ James G . M arch and H e rb e rt A . Simon, O rganizations (N ew Y o rk: W iley, 1958), Introductory C hapter. '^ J im L. Munro, A d m in is tra tiv e Behavior and P olice O rganization (C in ­ cin n ati, Ohio: W .H . Anderson C o., 1974), pp. I 19-121. In James G . M ille r, "Living Systems: S tru ctu re and Process," Behavioral Science R eview , 10 (O c t., 1965), 337-379; D aniel K a tz and R o b ert L . Kahn, The Social Psychology of O rganizations (N ew Y ork: W iley, 1966), p. 85. 5 the boundary o f organizations tend to experience g re a te r c o n flic t, g re a te r tension, and in general, organization. 18 g rea ter personal demands than those in the in terio r of the Police o ffic e rs occupy this boundary position. A nother kind of role am biguity is generated when a c itiz e n holds co n tra­ dictory expectations about the way a police o ffic e r should handle a given situation. He may be expected to m aintain order and a t the same tim e enforce the law. An exam ple o f this dilem m a is illu strated in a ttitu d e s tow ard a sidewalk crap game. One c itize n may w ant the players arrested, another simply may want the game removed, w hile yet another may w ant it allow ed. Most people e ith e r w ant the law enforced or order m aintained w ithout making an arrest depending on the p a rtic u la r situation, and sometim es they simply do not know what they w ant. The predicam ent of the police can scarcely be overstated. As Skolnick notes, "no recen t observer doubts th a t the police are under increasing strain largely because they are increasingly being given tasks w ell beyond th eir resources." 19 This dilem m a is described by Colin Maclnnes: They are doing the d iffic u lt and dangerous job society demands w ithou t any understanding by society of what th eir m oral and professional problems a re . The public uses the police as a scapegoat fo r its neurotic a ttitu d e tow ard c rim e . Janus-like, we have always turned two faces tow ard a policem an. We expect him to be human and yet inhuman. We em ploy him to adm inister the law, and ye t ask him to w aive it . We resent him when he enforces a law in our own case, yet demand his dismissal when he does not elsew here. We o ffe r him bribes, y e t denounce corruption. We expect him to be a m em ber of society, ye t not share its values. We adm ire violence, even against society its e lf, but condemn fo rce by the police on our b e h a lf. We te ll the police th a t they are e n title d to in form atio n from the ^ R o b e r t Louis Kahn, e t a l, O rgan izational Stress (N ew Y ork: W iley, 1966), p. 47. 19 Jerom e Skolnick, The P o litics of P ro test: V iolent Aspects o f Protests and C onfrontations, S ta ff R e p o rt’to N atio n a l Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence (Washington, D .C .: U.S. G overnm ent P rin tin g O ffic e , 1968), p. 189. public, ye t we o s tracize inform ers. We ask fo r crim e to be erad icated but only by the use o f sporting methods. How many of us would succeed in m eeting the demands o f this super human role? For these reasons it is exceedingly d iffic u lt to p red ict job perform ance. Rubinstein asks how we can p red ict fu tu re behavior when we do not even know what a policem an does. 21 To a sig n ifican t degree, we are s till unable to defin e the job of police o ffic e r c le a rly enough to be able to c re a te tests th a t evalu ate an applicant's p o ten tial fo r perform in g police responsibilities. N evertheless, social scientists are obliged to assist police adm in istrators in the a tte m p t to develop selection c rite ria . C o la re lli and Siegel m ain tain th at: The effectiveness of a law en fo rcem en t organization rests to a large degree on its a b ility to adequately select, tra in and supervise its personnel. The c ritic a l problem of selecting candidates is one of the thorniest, the most expensive and tfc^ most tim e consuming tasks facing such organizations. It has been estim ated th a t it takes about $10,000 to tra in and equip a police o ffic e r today and an additional $25,000 a year to support him until re tire m e n t. 23 M o re­ over, policem en are called upon to m ake im p o rtan t decisions in m a tte rs o f life and death, honor and d is h o n o r.^ S ociety cannot a ffo rd to be less than rigorous in 20 C olin Maclnnes, quoted in Ben W h itaker, The P olice (M iddlesex, England: Penguin Books, L td ., 1964), pp. 170-171. ^ Jonathan R ubinstein, C ity P o lice (N ew Y ork: pp. ix-xix . B alla n tin e Books, 1973), ^ N i c k J. C o la re lli and Saul M . Siegel, "A M ethod o f P olice Personnel Selection," Journal o f C rim in a l Law , C rim in olo gy, and P olice Science, 55 (June, 1964), 287. ^ G e o r g e W. O'Conner, Survey of Selection Methods (Washington, D .C .: International Association o f C hiefs of P o lic e, 1962), p. 34. ^ W ils o n , J .Q ., op. c it., p. 30. 7 attem pts to place the best men in positions of such responsibility. fla tly that "personnel selection service." 25 Comber states is the key to the fu ture of law enforcem ent Finding e ffe c tiv e selection methods is a paramount concern of the police adm inistrator. N E E D FO R S TU D Y One of the best predictors of fu tu re job perform ance is past behavior. Nearly all police personnel selection programs seek to tap elem ents of past behavior through psychological testing, interview ing and analyzing application and personal data sheets. U n fo rtu n ately, it is extrem ely d iffic u lt to determ ine exactly what past behaviors re la te to specific fu tu re job behaviors. The typical behavior inventory has no specified correct or incorrect answers. Instead, the personnel adm inistrator the applicant's m ajor behavioral is interested in obtaining descriptions of tendencies or predispositions (his so-called typical behavior) as he pursues his daily a c tivities . In order to discover "patterns of behavior" th at would disqualify an applicant, several behavior inventories are useful such as personality tests, vocational interests, biographical data, oral interviews or other available personal measurements. Each represents a method of describing relevan t behavior patterns useful to the personnel ad m inistrator. Such a wide v a rie ty of behavior inventories is in common use in police organizations. theorists suggests th at current police selection One group of management methods are usually poorly standardized and predictions th erefo re must be based on lit tle more than vague impressions, subjective hunches and in tu itive feelings. 26 25 Edward Com ber, "Selection fo r What?—The Long Range Goals: in Police Selection (ed.) Richard H . Blum (Springfield, ill.: Charles C . Thomas, 1964), p. 213. 26 John P. Cam pbell, e t al, Managerial Behavior, Perform ance and E ffe c t­ iveness (New York: M c G ra w -H ill Book Co., 1970), p. 143. A nalytical Problem s The various types of p red icto r instrum ents can be grouped into th ree m ajor categories: I) psychom etric tests, 2) interview s, and 3) biographical in form atio n. Measures of actual job perform ance generally fa ll into four broad categories: I) supervisory ratings, 2) te rm in a tio n of em ploym ent, 3) achievem ent in a police academy settin g, 4) ob jective measures such as number of arrests, c itiz e n com plaints, d ep artm en tal awards, departm ental discipline, and rank progression. Various sorts of psychological tests have been used to p red ict police o ffic e r job perform ance fo r over f if t y years. A substantial body of lite ra tu re exists that reports on the effectiven ess (or lack of it) of these instrum ents in a v a rie ty of police organizations. The C ity o f D e tro it, fo r instance, used a psychological test that proved to be so unsatisfactory th a t it was discontinued. 27 P resently the C ity of D e tro it has discontinued the use of all selection c r ite ria including physical requirem ents. The most recent nationw ide survey conducted by th e International Association of C hiefs of P olice showed th at nearly 90% o f police agencies surveyed use some kind of instrum ent th a t could be broadly defined as a psychological test. 28 tests H ow ever, it is sig nifican t to note th a t many c itie s are using psychological th at have not been va lid a ted on police populations. As y e t, police adm inistrators have been unable to answer the question of what the psychological test measures. P olice adm inistrators o fte n become overzealous in choosing psychological tests th a t have been "successful" w ith other occupational groups. In order to learn what a test a c tu a lly measures, it is necessary to ca rry out a series of U.S. Commission on C iv il R ights, F o r A ll the P eople.^B y A ll the People: A R eport on Equal O pportunity in S ta te and Local G overnm ent Em ploym ent (Wash­ ington, D .C .: U .S. G overnm ent P rin tin g O ffic e , 1969), p. 83. 28 T e rry Eisenberg, Deborah Ann K e n t and Charles R . W all, P o lice P er­ sonnel P ractices in S ta te and Local Governm ents (Washington, D .C .: Internation al Association of C hiefs of P olice, 1973), pp. 17-24. validation studies. V alid atio n refe rs broadly to th e process o f learning m ore about the to tal netw ork o f m easurem ent procedures. continuous process, especially associated w ith the police role. so in police Psychological te s t validation is a work because of the am biguity It is m ore e ffic ie n t to try w ell researched methods rather than those about which lit t le is known. The evidence gained from the development of individualized psychological tests tells th e police ad m in istrato r how useful they actu ally are fo r predicting job behaviors of interest. The conclusion to be drawn is th a t, at best, psychological tests only contrib ute to the v a lid ity o f the police selection process. The types of psychological tests most freq u en tly used fa ll into tw o specific categories. The fir s t type focuses on the applicant's skills and ab ilitie s by measuring his c a p ac ity to perfo rm (ap titu d e) or his cu rren t level of accom plishm ent (achievem ent). The second m ajor typ e emphasizes various aspects of personality and occupational in terest. Ghiselli's review is the most comprehensive since it covers hundreds of studies, published and unpublished, of the usefulness of measurem ents of skills and abilities in the selection process betw een 1919 and 1964. The studies w ere conducted in a wide range of occupational settings, using many d iffe re n t tests and many d iffe re n t measures o f job effectiveness. In order to sum m arize so many studies, G hiselli classified tests into a few broad categories and jobs into s im ila rly broad groupings based on gross estim ates o f re la tiv e s im ila rity in job demands. Tests w ere classified aptitudes, vocational according 3) perceptual in terest. to I) accuracy, 4) in tellig en ce, m otor 2) spatial and m echanical a b ilitie s , and 5) personality and Ghiselli was also forced to lump to g eth er measures of occupational p ro ficiency because of the large number of studies review ed. He averaged the v a lid ity of a ll studies by converting r's to Fisher's z, averaging th e z values, and converting them back to r's. Each test measure shows average r's ranging between .25 and .3 0 . This level o f v a lid ity is, of course, low which prompted Ghiselli to conclude th at the relationships between predictor scores and subsequent job perform ance a re a t best only "good bets" as poten tial predictors o f job behavior. 29 Personality tests have generally been less relia b le in predicting job success. Guion and G o ttie r review ed a substantial am ount of lite ra tu re on personality tests covering the years between 1952 and 1964. Included in th e ir review w ere studies from a wide v a rie ty of occupational groups. A review o f th eir summary tables shows th at few studies have yielded correlations above .20 for predicting job per­ form ance. in over significance. optimism selection. h a lf the studies, the v a lid ities fa il to reach s ta tis tic a l The authors suggest th a t lit tle evidence has been found to w arra n t about the p re d ic tiv e value of personality inventories H ow ever, they do find strong evidence th at specially in personnel made tests validated fo r specific situations and fo r specific p red ictive purposes are of much greater usefulness than standardized personality tests c u rre n tly available. They conclude th eir review on the follow ing pessim istic note; It is d iffic u lt in the fa ce of this summary to advocate the use of personality measures in most situations as a basis fo r making em ploym ent decisions. It seems cle ar that the only accep tab le reason fo r using personality measures as instrum ents of decision is found only a fte r doing considerable research w ith the measure in the specific situation, and fo r the specific purpose fo r which it is to be used. Nash is less pessim istic. H e finds th a t personality tests, a t least for m anagerial skills, exhibited a modest p red iction c a p a c iiity . On the basis of his review of the lite ra tu re , Nash suggests th a t four id e n tifia b le in terest components ^ E d w in E . G hiselli, The V a lid ity of O ccupational A p titu d e Tests (New York: W iley, 1966), p. 12. R . M . Guion and R . F. G o ttie r, "V alid atin g of Personality Measures in Personnel Services," Personnel Psychology, 18 (Sum m er, 1965), 135-164. !1 are related to m anagerial effectiveness: I) hum anitarian and people-oriented, 2) persuasive, verbal and lite ra ry interests, 3) dislike of technical or skilled trades pursuits, and 4) dislikes of d etailed a c tiv itie s . Nash successfully developed and cross-validated (r=.33) a special scoring key fo r identifying the more e ffe c tiv e managers out of a group o f 159 executives. According to Nash the more e ffe c tiv e manager preferred a c tiv itie s th at involved intense thought, some risk and would not demand much regim en tation . Nash does, how ever, agree w ith Guion and G o ttie r that ta ilo r-m a d e scales developed fo r specific m easurem ent situations are usually b e tte r predictors than standardized tests. 31 K en t and Eisenberg o ffe r an exhaustive review of the lite ra tu re on police selection and suggest that the numerous studies concerned w ith the id e n tific a tio n o f various test perform ance have lim ite d value. 32 They conclude th a t most studies overlook the im portant elem ent o f d iffe re n tia l p red ictive va lid ity in the tests used and th erefo re perform ance. the 33 tests are invalid as a method fo r determ ining These four reviews illu s tra te the need to investigate e m p iric a lly the value of each psychom etric prediction instrum ent. must make a fu tu re job carefu l assessment of the many The police ad m in istrator types of personality testing procedures. The most freq u en tly used prediction instrum ent is the selection in te rv ie w . Almost every police job ap p lican t can a n tic ip a te a t least one in tervie w before an em ploym ent decision is made. The in te rv ie w may be in form al or highly stru ctu red 31 A llan N . Nash, "D evelopm ent of an 5VIB K ey for Selecting Managers," Journal of Applied Psychology, 50 (June, 1966), 250-254. 32 Deborah Ann K e n t and T e rry Eisenberg, "The Selection and Prom otion of Police O ffic e rs : A S elected R eview of R ec en t L ite ra tu re ," Police C h ie f, 39 (F eb ., 1972), 20-24. ^ I b id pp. 28-29. 12 and very often it is the fin a l and deciding step in the selection process. M ayfield's study found th at in terview ers are generally unable to distinguish candidates who w ill be successful perform ers and those who w ill not. between M ayfield's findings suggest th at each in te rv ie w e r brings his own special fram e of re fe re n ce to the interview setting and th a t this colors the way he perceives others. Once the in­ terview is underway, the in te rv ie w e r forms a quick firs t impression of the in te r­ viewee. Even in a highly structured in tervie w , an interview er's handling of the inform ation depends on his own ch aracteristics. H e may assim ilate all o f it and come to an integrated decision; or finding discordant in form atio n d iffic u lt to handle, he may depend on the most recen tly concludes th at unfavorable inform ation received knowledge. carries m ore weight than M a y fie ld favorable comments about the in te r v ie w e e .^ D unnette found evidence to believe th a t often the personal in tervie w is nothing more than "passing the tim e of day" w ith the prospective candidate and that little patterns. e ffo r t is made to determ in e the candidate's typical past behavior 35 In spite of the shortcomings o f the personal in terview process, no police adm inistrator would suggest its elim in atio n from the selection process. Wilson argues th a t the in terview process is the only way of appraising the intangible personal qualities of the police candidate. 36 Adams states th a t the oral in terview is designed to obtain biographical inform atio n about the candidate and th erefo re "^Edward C. M a y fie ld , "The Selection In terview : A R eevalu ation of Pub­ lished Research," Personnel Psychology, 17 (A utum n, 1964), 239-260. 35 M arvin D. D u n n ette, Personal Selection C alifornia: B rooks/C ole Publishing C o., 1966), p. 66. 36 and P lacem ent (B elm ont, Orlando W. Wilson and Roy C . M cLaren , P olice A d m in istratio n , 3rd ed. (New York: M c G ra w -H ill Book C o., 1972), p. 269. 13 should be an im p o rtan t p a rt of th e selection process. 37 The personal in te rv ie w is the only w ay to see w hat the candidate looks like and to get acquainted w ith him as a person. M o reover, it may be the best w ay to "sell” the departm ent to a promising ap p lican t. As a public relations device, then, the interview m ay be crucial but as a means o f predicting job perform ance, it often has little value. According to D unnette the best w ay to u tiliz e past behavior fo r predicting job perform ance is to perform ance c r ite ria . exam ine biographical inform ation in relatio n to job E lem en ts of a candidate's past behavior, i.e ., job history, amount of education, m ilita ry record, arrest record, work habits, e tc ., are tre a te d as separate item s to be com pared to defined job perform ance c r ite ria such as service ratin g , absenteeism , civ ilia n com plaints, e tc . 38 In an ea rly review of th e lite ra tu re , Mahoney, Sorenson, Jerdee and Nash discovered th at the biographical in form atio n obtained fro m an organization's application form s m ay w ell be th e most re lia b le data fo r pred icting various types of job perform ance. 39 Biographical may in valid ate in fo rm atio n does not su ffer fro m in fo rm atio n fro m psychom etric the same distortions th at tests and interviews. F o r exam ple, it is e m p iric a lly developed, it can be re la te d d ire c tly to job perform ance c rite ria and it is much less lik ely to be faked since independent means can be used to check it. In an e a rly study Mosel and Cozan dem onstrated that biographical inform atio n supplied by applicants c o rre la te d very highly, all r's between .90 and .96, w ith in fo rm a tio n obtained fro m other sources and records such 37 Thomas F. Adams, G erald Buck and Don H a ils tro m , C rim in al Justice: O rganization and M anagem ent (P a c ific Palisades, C a lifo rn ia : Goodyear Publishing C o., 1974), p. 96. 38 39 D unnette, op. c it ., p. 145. Thomas A . Mahoney, e t al, "Id e n tific a tio n and P red ictio n o f M anagerial E ffectiveness," Personnel A d m in istratio n , 26 (July-A ugust, 1963), 12-22. 14 as those of previous e m p lo y e rs .^ results. Subsequent studies have produced sim ilar H ow ever, biographical data obtained from th e ty p ica l application blank is restricted to s tric tly biographical item s (such as age, education, race, sex, e tc .) rather than incorporating perceptual and s e lf-d esc rip tiv e m a te ria l o f the type employed by m ore co m p lete biographical inventory form s. resemble personality or in te re s t tests. In many cases B .D .I.'s Research on the use o f biographical data is still in its infancy, w ith police agencies only beginning to recognize its p o ten tial value. This is not surprising since most police agencies have file s fu ll o f com pleted application blanks from p o ten tial candidates, present and past employees, along with records of personnel decisions made about them . Thus, biographical inform ation is a fr u itfu l source o f p re d ic tiv e data fo r the selection process. Legal R am ificatio ns The legal aspect of selection procedures is a dom inant concern of police personnel m anagem ent. A study by the U .S. Commission on C iv il R ights found wide variations in selection methods used by police o rg a n iz a tio n s .^ These variatio ns were a m ajor fa c to r in the extension of the 1964 C iv il R ights A c t by the 1972 Equal Employment O pportunity A c t. The Equal E m ploym ent O pportunity Commission requires th a t the v a lid ity of selection decisions based on various selection c rite ria be presented in the form of "em p irical data dem onstrating th a t the te s t is predictive of or s ig n ifican tly c o rre la te d w ith im p o rtan t elem ents of work behavior which comprise or are relev an t to the job or jobs fo r which candidates are being e v a lu a te d ." ^ It should be noted th a t nothing in the Equal E m ploym ent O pportunity ^ J a m e s L . Mosel and L e e W. C ozan, "The A ccuracy o f A p p licatio n Blank Work H istories," Journal o f A pplied Psychology, 36 (O ctob er, 1952), 365-369. ^ U . S . Commission on C iv il R ights, op. c it ., pp. 7 1 -9 1 . ^ E q u a l Em ploym ent O p portu nity Commission, "Testing and Selecting Employee Guidelines," F ederal R eg iste r (35 R .F . 12333), 1970, p. 2085. 15 A c t precludes the use of testing or measuring devices. Congress has forbidden only the selection of job applicants on the basis o f these procedures unless they can be dem onstrated to be a reasonable m easure of job perform ance. The in te n t o f the A ct is to insure th a t hiring is done on the basis of job qualifications and past job discrim ination is not perpetu ated. The Commission has stated: For the purpose of satisfying the req u irem en ts...em ­ pirical evidence must be based on studies employing generally accepted procedures fo r determ ining c ri­ te rio n -re la te d v a lid ity , such as those described in Standards fo r Educational and Psychological Tests and Manuals published by the A m erican Psychological As­ so ciatio n .... Evidence of co n ten t or construct v a lid ity , as defined in th a t pu blication, may also be appropriate where c rite rio n -re la te d v a lid ity is not fe a s ib le .... E vi­ dence of co n ten t v a lid ity alone m ay not be acceptable for w ell-developed tests th a t consist o f suitable samples of the essential kn o w le d g e skills, or behaviors com ­ posing the job in question. This is Ihe only s c ie n tific standard used fo r testing. These standards are intended to guide good testing practices and to provide an ob jective c rite rio n fo r test evaluation. Besides the validation of testing procedures th ere are numerous oth er legal requirem ents th at the police personnel a d m in is tra to r must fu lfill. Some o f these legal decisions and th e ir im portance to police selection procedures are review ed below. It should be rem em bered th a t decisions in this area are alw ays changing and th at decisions of lower courts are o fte n reversed a t a la te r date by higher-level courts. 4 3 lbid., p. 2086. Statistical D eterm ination o f D iscrim ination. Despite the seemingly ex­ plicit language o f T itle V I I , prohibition of the use of preferen tial trea tm e n t for any group or individual becase of num erical imbalances in race, religion, national origin, or sex which may exist between an employer's work force and the community's work force, imbalances have been held to be prim a facie cases of discrimination. No further evidence o f discrim ination is necessary to prove the point unless the em ployer produced counter-evidence proving that unfair discrim in­ ation had not o c c u rre d .^ A t least one court has even ruled that a statistical imbalance in its e lf constituted a violation of T itle V I 1 . ^ W h ile it is tru e th a t im b a la n c e s w ill r e s u lt fro m d is c r im in a tio n , o th e r explanations are also plausible, such as differences in vocational interests which would not be violations of the law. H ow ever, hard evidence must be presented the court to support that argum ent. U6 Police jurisdictions which have neither documentation nor research to ju stify their selection procedures lose th eir court cases on this issue almost every tim e . One exception occurred in the U.S. D is tric t Court, D is tric t of C o l u m b i a . I n this case, the court sustained a police test which had doubtful valid ity and a higher rejection rate fo r Blacks, in a jurisdiction w ith a racially imbalanced police force. The court based its decision on the assumption that vigorous m inority recru itm en t programs had resulted in a disproportionate number of Black applicants w ith below average ab ilitie s. The m ajor trend in this area is that a combination of statistical imbalance and additional "supportive facts" 44 r~~ U.S. D is tric t C ourt, Massachusetts, Arrington vs. Massachusetts Bay Transportation A u th o rity, Federal Supplement 1969, 306, 1355. ^ U .S . C ourt of Appeals, 85h C irc u it, Parham vs. Southwestern Bell T e le­ phone Company, Federal R ep o rter, 1970, 433, 421. ^ U .S . Court of Appeals, 1st C irc u it, Castro vs. Beecher, Federal R ep orter, 1972, 459, 700. i •j U.S. D is tric t C ou rt, D is tric t of Columbia, Douglas vs. Ham pton F a ir Employment P ractice Cases, 1972, 14, 382. 17 such as prior discrim inatory practices 48 or a longstanding, co m p lete absence of m inority p e rs o n n e l^ a re necessary for a prim a fa c ie case. In the more recen t case of C ro c k e tt vs. G reen, it was held th at a sub­ stantial disparity exists between proportions o f m inorities in the general population and proportions in specific job classifications. 50 This was enough to establish a prim a fa c ie case of unlaw ful discrim ination against the C ity o f M ilw aukee. The court stated th a t sta tis tic a l discrepancies in police and fire jobs resulted from racial discrim ination.'*' A rres t and C onviction R ecords. The use of arre s t records in personnel selection is suspect because Blacks account fo r a disproportionate number of arrests in relationship to th e ir numbers in th e population. Also, th e v a lid ity of arrest records fo r predicting job perform ance is doubtful when so fe w arrests ever lead to convictions. The U .S. D is tric t C o u rt, C a lifo rn ia , has ruled th a t the use of arrest records as selection c rite ria violates both T itle V I I and the F ifth and Fourteenth Am endments. 52 The E EO C has gone fu rth e r and ruled th at conviction records may not be used in personnel selection unless th e conviction was d ire c tly related to the work to be perform ed. 53 The U.S. C ourt o f Appeals, 8th C irc u it, also has rejec ted the use 48 U.S. D is tric t C o u rt, A lab am a, N A A C P vs. A llen , F ed eral Supplement, 1972, 340, 703. 49 U.S. C o u rt o f Appeals, 8th C irc u it, C a rte r vs. G allagher, Federal R e ­ porter, 1972, 452, 317. 50 U.S. D is tric t C o u rt, Wisconsin, C ro c k e tt vs. Green, Federal Supplem ent, 1975, 388, 912. 5 'ib id . p. 913. 52 U.S. D is tric t C o u rt, C a lifo rn ia , Gregory vs. L itto n Systems, Inc., Federal Supplement, 1970, 316, 401. 53 Equal Em ploym ent O pportunity Commission, D ecision Num ber 72-14 97, March 30, 1972. 18 of conviction records as an absolute b a rrie r to em ploym ent in favo r of deciding the relevance of each conviction to th e job to be done. Chicago^ 54 In the U.S. vs. C ity o f evidence was presented to show th a t arrest records disqualified tw o Blacks for every w hite when a background investigation was made to f ill a position as patrolm an. The C o u rt stated th at the use of arrest records was p a ten tly discrim inatory tow ard Blacks and ordered the C ity to exam ine the arrest records of Black candidates more c a re fu lly since an inordinate number of Black applicants had arrest records. Physical R equirem ents. H eight and weight requirem ents have generally been upheld fo r police o ffic e rs under the provisions o f the Fourteenth A m endm ent and the C ivil Rights A c ts of 1866 and 1871. applied to racial questions. more vulnerable under These A cts have tra d itio n a lly been H ow ever, height and weight requirem ents appear to be T itle VII. This discrim ination due to sex and national o rig in. A ct o ffe rs m ore protection from For exam ple, the E EO C has ruled that a 5'6" height requirem ent for production jobs discrim inated against fem ales (median height of 5 r5") and Spanish surnamed A m ericans (m edian height 5'4k") and in favor of Anglo males (m edian height of more than 5'7"). 56 S tate "p ro tective" legislation which sets m axim um weights that may be lifted and m axim um hours th a t m ay be worked by women (physical strength re­ quirem ent) has been struck down rep eated ly. If weight or strength is job re la te d , each applicant must be tested individually and the sex of the applicant cannot be used as a rough e s tim ate of e lig ib ility . Education. M inim um education requirem ents have gained g rea t popularity — C a rte r vs. G allagher, op. c it ., p. 317. ~*~*U.S. D is tric t C o u rt, Illinois, U .S. vs. C ity of Chicago, F ederal Supple­ m ent, 1975, 385, 549. ~^EEO C. Decision Num ber 7 l - l 529, A p ril 2, 1971. 19 as an inexpensive and read ily availab le selection device, but its overuse has led to many invalid and discrim inatory applications. The U.S. Supreme C o u rt ruled th at employers must dem onstrate a relationship betw een educational requirem ents and successful job perform ance, and noted th a t: H istory is fille d w ith exam ples of men and women who rendered highly e ffe c tiv e perform ance w ithou t the conventional badges of accom plishm ent in term s of c e rtific a te s , diplomas, or degrees. Diplom as and tests a re useful servants, but Congress has m andated the common sense proposition th a t they are not to become masters of re a lity . To date co urt a tta c k s have been m ainly against using the high school diplom a as a selection c rite rio n , but general college degree requirem ents probably w ill be next. This would be p a rtic u la rly im po rtant to the police ad m in istrato r since the N atio n al Advisory Commission on C rim in al Justice Standards and Goals recommends th a t, by 1982, all police applicants have a t least a bachelor's degree. 58 These court decisions and the d iffic u ltie s in predicting job perform ance require a closer exam ination of job selection c r ite ria , p a rtic u la rly in regard to background investigations. If police personnel managers re a lly do w ant to develop selection c r ite ria to a ttr a c t the best qu alified candidate, considerable em pirical research is necessary. Purpose The purpose of this study is to id e n tify sig nifican t relationships betw een selected background ch aracteristics obtained from application perform ance of policem en in the M ichigan S tate P o lic e. form s and job A revie w of previous studies o f personnel selection and perform ance c r ite ria illu strates th a t the most 57 U .S. Supreme C o u rt, Griggs vs. Duke Pow er Com pany, U .S . R eports, 1971, 401. 58 N ational Advisory Commission on C rim in al Justice Standards and Goals, op. c it ., p. 85 20 pow erful and consistent predictors have been derived n e ith er from w ritte n exam inations nor subjective psychological tests but from the ob jective q u a lita tiv e evaluation of the job applicant's personal history and academ y perform ance. 59 H ow ever, no police organization has a tte m p te d to reduce these background facto rs to a valid em ploym ent tool upon which m anagem ent can rely I) to select candidates who are likely to perform e ffe c tiv e ly as policem en and 2) to re je c t candidates likely to be unsatisfactory. In short, a dependable selection instrum ent has not been developed, and this study w ill be addressed to th a t problem . It is hoped th a t this study w ill provide the s ta te police ad m in istrato r w ith additional inform ation so th a t com petent decisions concerning the selection of qualified police applicants can be m ade. As this study deals d ire c tly w ith v a lid ity of selection c r ite ria em ployed by a s ta te police agency, the findings should have a more d irec t im pact on the selection process than previous studies conducted in large m etrop olitan police organizations. T E R M S A N D D E F IN IT IO N S To ensure c le a r understanding of this dissertation, term s used throughout the study are here defined. C ohort - a cohort study focuses on the same specific population each tim e data are co llec ted . C hapter I I I examines this m ethod of co llectin g data in more d e tail. C oncurrent V a lid ity - a concurrent valid atio n study yields inform atio n about individual behavior conco m itan tly rela te d to te st responses. It is not co rre c t to assume p red ictive usefulness fo r a test if it has been subm itted only to con59 John Furcon, e t a l, "A Longitudinal Study of Psychological Test P re ­ dictors and Assessments of P atrolm en F ie ld P erform ance," R ep ort subm itted to Law E nfo rcem ent Assistance A d m in istratio n , (W ashington, D .C .: U .S. G overnm ent P rinting O ffic e , 1972); B ernard Cohen and Jan C haiken, P olice Background C h aracteristics and P erform ance (N ew Y ork: Rand In stitu te , August, 1972). 21 current valid atio n . In personnel selection, concurrent studies are often the only means available fo r te st valid a tio n . The sample o f subjects w ill not usually include those who w ere not hired or have been discharged. Concurrent studies exam ine the relationship betw een te st behavior w ith o th e r acceptable measures of human perform ance. C ross-Validation - simply involves rep licatin g research results on another group o f subjects. Results can be checked against an independently selected group to co nfirm or dtsconfirm the s ta b ility of relationships betw een tests and job p e r­ form ance shown in the fir s t sample. A nother much stronger m ethod is to v a lid a te results on all applicants hired in one year and to cross-validate the results on applicants hired in another year. The present study proposes such a design. D escrip tive Study - the goal o f descrip tive studies review ed in this disser­ tation is simply to describe some " t r a it11 of the police applicant or working police o ffic e r. This is accomplished by the use o f descrip tive statistics which include means, medians, and standard deviations. graphs and test scores. Some studies also make use of tables, A ll these techniques are useful in sum m arizing data so as to fa c ilita te th e ir in te rp re ta tio n . P erform ance - C hapter I I I defines perform ance and perform ance appraisal as used in this study. P re d ic to r V ariables - these are simply th e independent variables used in the study. P re d ic tiv e V a lid ity - this design suggests th at ah applicants would be tested and aH would be hired w ithou t regard to any established selection c r ite ria . perform ance would be observed and evalu ated on each applicant. date, relationships would perform ance of em ployees. be determ ined betw een selection Job A t some la te r c r ite ria and job The p red ictive strateg y is the p re fe rre d strateg y for any personnel selection program , but it is not w ithout some m ajor d iffic u ltie s . For exam ple, hiring aH applicants regardless of th e ir cap ab ilities is a p o te n tia lly 22 wasteful procedure because o f the in e ffe c tiv e u tiliz a tio n of human resources. V alidation - selection stipulated to m easure. W hat c r ite ria are valid if they measure w hat they are is stipu lated is a variab le specified inthe state m e n t of the problem . O R G A N IZ A T IO N O F R E M A IN D E R O F S T U D Y C hapter I I featu res a broad review of the lite ra tu re in the areas of police re c ru itm e n t and selection. C hapter I I I describes the design of the study. C h ap ter IV illu strates the results o f the cross-tabulations betw een pre­ dictor variables and perform ance measures. C hapter V presents the results of the least-squares stepwise m u ltip le regression betw een p red icto r variables and perform ance measures. C hapter V I o ffers the conclusions draw from this study and proposes specific recom m endations to be im plem ented by the agency fo r whom this study was prepared. Appendix A contains a list of the m inim um entrance requirem ents for the position of trooper in the M ichigan S ta te P olice. Appendix B contains the selection process used by the Michigan S ta te Police in processing police applicants. Appendix C contains the coding sheet used in the study which lists the types of data co llected . Appendix D contains the c o rre la tio n m a trix o f p red icto r variables and perform ance measures. C H A P T E R 11 R E V IE W O F T H E L IT E R A T U R E IN T R O D U C T IO N The purpose of the police selection process is to ascertain which job candidates have the highest po ten tial fo r developing into successful police o ffic e rs . The lite ra tu re on this process derives from a w ide v a rie ty o f sources. The fields o f industrial psychology, public ad m in istratio n , and the behavioral sciences have all contributed concepts and theories to the developm ent of police personnel selection methods, but these contributions are not o ften w ell in teg rated into a general theory. The lite ra tu re on police selection methods varies in q u ality from speculative theorizin g to sophisticated testing of theory in em p irical studies. Some studies try to find a relationship between ce rtain background c h aracteristics of police o ffic e rs and actual measures of on-th e-jo b perform ance, w hile others exam ine background ch aracteristics w ithou t any a tte m p t to re la te these ch a ra c te r­ istics to measures of perform ance. This review w ill be concerned only w ith studies that deal sp ecifically w ith police background ch aracteristics since the lite ra tu re is so varied in q u ality. But firs t, cu rren t methods o f police selection w ill be review ed. 23 24 C urrent Methods of P olice Selection Most police selection methods include a series o f tests to be passed by a police candidate. Each te st acts as a screen to e lim in a te candidates fro m fu rth e r consideration who fa il aptitude tests, background to physical reach a c e rta in standard. exam inations, investigations, oral a g ility tests, board review s W ritte n achievem ent or p e rs o n a lity and psychiatric inventories, interview s are common selection devices. H ow ever, no police agency uses all these procedures and there is consid­ erable disagreem ent among police adm inistrators about which methods produce the best results. For exam ple, some adm inistrators rely on an expensive b a tte ry of personality, vocational and in te lle c tu a l tests. O thers requ ire only a C iv il Service exam ination, physical exam ination and background check. expended agencies. in gathering and analyzing The am ount of e ffo r t inform atio n also d iffe rs betw een police Some c a rry out background investigations th at are the envy of the federal governm ent, w h ile others m erely m ake a perfunctory check o f local cre d it ratings and arrest records. There is also considerable v a ria b ility in the order in which selection procedures are adm inistered. G en erally , low cost screening methods are used firs t so that expensive testing is used on th e m inim um number of applicants. Stone and Kendall have devised a technique called the "successive hurdles" m ethod in which all the fa cto rs shown by research to be re la te d to perform ance are set fo rth in the order of th eir im portance.* order in which th e U sually, C iv il Service tests are given firs t, but the applicant must pass the rem aining tests is much less standardized. Th ere are several ways to stru ctu re selection instrum ents. One way, *C . H arold Stone and W illiam E. K en dall, E ffe c tiv e Personnel Selection Procedures (Englewood C liffs , N ew Jersey: P re n tic e H a ll, Inc., 1956), C hapter I. 25 mentioned above, is to use the [east expensive m ethod (group m ental testing) firs t and the more expensive methods (physical exam ination) la te r. A nother way is to adm inister the tests according to ease of ad m in istration , so th a t the most d iffic u lt predictor inform atio n to generate (i.e . on the few est people. an extensive background check) is gathered A th ird most desirable approach is to order the te st hurdles in term s of th eir p red ictive v a lid itie s . This would screen out the largest number o f potential applicants ea rly in the process w ith the most valid p red icto r. This option is seldom available, however, because o f the lack of p red ictive v a lid ities fo r each of the screening hurdles. 2 A wide v a rie ty of selection tools is desirable. In this way, in form atio n can be gathered from many points o f refe re n ce , and decisions based on a wide breadth of inform ation. method for But the m u ltip le hurdle selection procedure is not the optim al combining in form atio n. It fails to take account of the in te r­ relationships among selection methods and ignores the re la tiv e costs o f decision errors a t various points in the sequence. F u rth erm o re, this m ethod does not allow for subgroups of applicants who may be best tested by unique predictors or co m 3 binations of predictors. An individualized selection procedure has been proposed by D un nette. This method u tilizes only those predictors fo r a given applicant which can be shown to be o p tim ally valid for him . Decisions a t each point (such as re je c t, hire, or gather more inform atio n) are based upon research evidence instead o f upon tra d itio n , as is so often the case in the m u ltip le hurdle procedure. An individualized selection procedure requires extensive research evidence, evidence which is alm ost always 2 B. E arl Lewis and R ich ard Blum, "Selection Standards: A C ritic a l Approach," in P olice Selection (ed.) R ichard Blum (Springfield, Illinois: Charles C . Thomas Publisher, 1964), p. 68. 3 President's Commission on Law E nfo rcem ent and A d m in istratio n of Justice, Task Force R ep o rt: The P olice (Washington, D .C .: U.S. Governm ent Printing O ffic e , 1967), pp. 163-67. 26 lacking in most selection settings. i The follow ing review o f police selection procedures is divided into tw o major sections. F irs t, descriptive studies th a t evalu ate the ch aracteristics of police candidates w ill be exam ined. Second, studies th a t em p irically exam ine the relationship between measures o f individual d ifferen ces and fu tu re job perform ance will be inspected. D E S C R IP T IV E STU D IES Studies which describe the ch aracteristics o f the typical police candidate or working police o ffic e r have been divided into four categories. These categories are intelligence, vocational in terest, personality ch aracteristics and biographical inform ation. Intelligence The e a rliest application of intelligence testing in an e ffo r t to describe th e ch aracteristics o f police o ffic e rs was conducted by Term an . an im portant fa c to r Term an argued th a t in determ ining an ap p lican t’s fitness to perform sponsibilities o f a police o ffic e r was general in tellig en ce. the re ­ A revised ed itio n o f the Binet-Sim on In tellig en ce Test was adm inistered to a group o f 30 police applicants. The applicants ranged in age from 21 to 38 years w ith a median age o f 30. results produced a median I.Q . score of 84. From Test these test results Term an recommended th a t police candidates w ith an I.Q . score lower than 80 be elim in ate d from the police selection process, since a score o f 80 was considered the dull normal range. 4 Term an fu rth e r m aintained th a t the 80 c u to ff score was necessary M a rv in D . D u n n ette, Personnel Selection and P lacem en t (B elm ont, C a lif ­ ornia: B rooks/C ole Publishing Co^ \96S^~pp7T\\^66. 27 because it distinguished th e d iffe re n c e betw een an in fe rio r individual and one capable o f handling norm al police duties. Although Term an thought it im portant to compare I.Q . scores w ith la te r job perform ance, no a tte m p t was made to do this and the a rb itra ry score o f 80 was established as an indicator to perfo rm police responsibilities. 5 Thurstone was also interested in the poten tial usefulness of m ental testing in police work and adm inistered the A rm y Alpha scale, which is a measure o f general careers. in tellig en ce, to 358 D e tro it police o ffic e rs at various stages in th eir Thurstone discovered th a t the mean Alpha score was considerably higher for patrolm en, 71.44 than fo r sergeants, 54.71, or lieutenants, 57.80. These findings prom pted Thurstone to com pare Alpha scores of police o ffic e rs and patrolm en in several urban jurisdictions. H e discovered th a t lower in tellig en ce te s t scores in the police o ffic e r group w ere not unique fo r the D e tro it d ep artm en t but were discovered in ail th e groups he tested. H e hypothesized th a t the brig htest men who en ter the police service leave in favo r o f other occupations where th e ir a b ility and in tellig en ce are b e tte r recognized. To support this conclusion Thurstone points to the strong negative relationship betw een mean Alpha scores and length o f service in the D e tro it sample. According to Thurstone's findings, it appears th a t .the longer the individual had been em ployed by the police agency, the low er his score on the A rm y Alpha test.^ H ow ever, M e rrill exam ined police applicants in rural agencies and found that the mean A rm y A lpha score fo r I 13 candidates was 104.2 and th a t th e m ore in tellig en t applicants rem ained on the job just as long as the less in te llig e n t. ’’Lew is M . Term an , "A T ria l o f M en tal and Pedogogical Tests in a C iv il Service Exam ination fo r P olicem en and F irem en ," Journal o f Applied Psychology, I (M arch, 1917) 17-29. ^ L .L . Thurstone, "The In tellig en ce of P olicem en," Journal o f Personnel Research, I (1922) 6 4 -74 . 28 M e rrill m aintained th at d iffe re n c e betw een her data and Thurstone's was due in p a rt to departm en tal leadership. M e rr ill does not consider other im po rtant variables such as o rganization al stru ctu re, re c ru itm e n t procedures, eth n ic d iffe r ­ ences, economic conditions, ideology, e tc ., th a t probably e ffe c t the va ria tio n in I.Q . scores betw een urban and rural police agencies.^ A nother measure of intelligence is the C iv il Service exam ination. U sually, these exam inations are constructed by educators and police ad m in istrators who submit questions to the C iv il Service Commission which they believe are relev an t to the police occupation and can be easily answered by the p o ten tia l police applicant. H ow ever, th ere is evidence th a t C iv il Service exam inations are in fa c t measures of basic in tellig en ce. For exam ple, Blum discovered th a t a C iv il Service test designed to select sheriff's deputies c o rre la te d .70 w ith the O tis Intelligence O Test. Likew ise, E ilb e rt reported a c o rre la tio n o f .5^ between scores on an entrance exam ination given to New York police applicants and scores on the O tis g Intelligence Test. E ilbert's results may not be representative o f the whole group of applicants since the O tis was given ony to those applicants who passed the entrance exam ination. There is considerable insight in Blum's observation concerning the use o f C ivil Service tests. It seems ap paren t th a t men of norm al in tellig en ce are lost to po ten tial police service through the un critical use o f C ivil Service tests as screening. The m a jo rity of such C iv il Service tests are not standardized and not valid ated . It seems foolish to em ploy them as screening devices when standardized and valid ated intelligence 7 Maud A. M e r r ill, "In tellig en ce fo r Policem en," Journal o f Personnel R e­ search, 5 (1927), 51 1-515. g R ichard Blum , "Psychological Testing," in P olice Selection (ed.) R ichard Blum (Springfield, Illinois: Charles C . Thomas Publisher, 1964), p. 114. 9 L .R . E ilb e rt, "Research on Selection o f P olice R ec ru its," A m erican In­ s titu te fo r R esearch, August, 1966. 29 tests can be used in th e ir place. Despite the lim ite d p red ictive value o f the C iv il Service test, between 30 to 80 percent o f police applicants fa il to pass this firs t h u rd le.' ' This staggering loss of p o ten tially com petenr police candidates seems un justified in view o f the lack of demonstrated p red ictive v a lid ity o f this selection device. O th er researchers have used various standard intelligence tests to exam ine police candidates. M a ta ra zzo , et al reported th a t th e average to ta l scale score on the W echler A d u lt In tellig en ce Scale (W AIS) fo r a sample of I 13 police applicants was a mean score o f 113. 12 It was noted th a t 40% of the subjects in this sample had some college education, so above average in tellig en ce scores on the WAIS were not too surprising. 13 In an e a rlie r study conducted by K ole, sim ila r results were discovered fo r a sample o f 40 police applicants who had a mean educational level of 12-71^ Gordon measured the verbal I.Q . fo r a sample of 252 police applicants by the Lorge-Thorndike Test o f In tellig en ce, Level G, and found a mean verbal I.Q . of 93. In addition, Gordon found sig n ifican t mean d ifferen ces in in tellig en ce test scores between w h ite , black and Spanish-speaking applicants. portion of the Lo rge-Thorndike Test was also adm inistered. The non-verbal A ll groups scored lower on the non-verbal te st than the verbal te s t, w ith the exception of the '^ B lu m , op. c it ., pp. I 14-1 15. * * P hilip H . Dubois and R o b ert I. Watson, "The Selection o f P atrolm en ," Journal o f A pplied Psychology, 34 (A p ril, 1950), 90-95 . G ilm ore Spencer and Robert Nichols, "A Study o f Chicago R ecru its V alid atio n o f Selection Procedures," Police C h ie f, 38 (June, 1971), 5 0 -55 . 12 Joseph D . M a ta ra zzo , e t al, "C h aracteristic s of Successful Policem en and Firem en A pplicants," Journal o f A pplied Psychology, 48 (A p ril, 1964), 123-134. '^ D .M . K ole, "A Study of In te lle c tu a l and P erson ality C h a ra cte ris tics of M edical Students," unpublished M aster's Thesis, U n iversity o f Oregon, 1962. 30 S p a n is h - s p e a k in g a p p lic a n ts who s c o re d h ig h e r o n t h e n o n -v e r b a l p o r tio n . tunately, Gordon has no explanation fo r these unusual results. U n fo r- 15 In conclusion, th e m ore rece n t studies indicate th a t the typical police applicant today has at least average in tellig en ce, and if police agencies can a ttr a c t applicants w ith some college education, they have an applicant pool of above average in tellig en ce. There is no doubt th a t com petence a t the routine and com ­ plex tasks th a t police o ffic e rs perform requires considerable in tellig en ce. Just how much intelligence w ill be discussed la te r. Vocational Interest One o f the firs t researchers to exam ine the vocational in terest of police applicants was Spaulding. H e adm inistered th e Kuder P re feren ce R ecord to a sample of AO police applicants in D ela w are. Spaulding found th a t th e only out­ standing vocational interests in his sample w ere strong inclinations tow ard the helping services, and w ith neg ative in terest in the com putational and c le ric a l vocations. Spaulding o ffe rs no explanation fo r these results, stating only th a t police applicants may s u ffe r from th e "missionary syndrom e.1' ^ In another study, Kates adm inistered th e Strong Vocational In terest Blank (SVIB) and a job satisfaction questionnaire to a sample of 25 N ew York policemen who volunteered to p a rtic ip a te in the research. K ates discovered no differences between the sample of policem en and the general population in term s o f measured interest in police work. Also, no relationship was found betw een in terest in police work and job satisfaction. K ates suggested th a t the absence o f a relationship between work interest and job satisfactio n was due to the co m p lexity o f the police — G. C. Gordon, Perspectives on Law E nfo rcem ent: 1. C h a ra cte ris tics of Police Applicants (P rinceton, N ew Jersey: Educational Testing S ervice, 1969, P R 69-17). ®^V.V. Spaulding, "A Study o f Nurse and P o lic e A pplicants," D elaw are S tate M edical Journal, 20 (June, 1948), 177-178. 31 role which a ffe c ts every man d iffe re n tly . S im ilar 17 findings w ere recorded by Kole who measured the vocational interest of 40 police applicants w ith the Edwards Personal P referen ce Schedule (EPPS). K ole argued th a t the police ap p lican t was most interested in social service type occupations. 18 M a ta ra zzo , e t al adm inistered both the EPPS and SVIB to a sample o f I 13 police applicants. significantly from The data indicated th a t the general population on the police 10 o f the applicants d iffe re d 15 EPPS scales. For exam ple, police applicants w ere higher on the scales of need fo r achievem ent, exhibition, in tracep tio n, dominance, endurance and heterosexu ality. police applicants scored lower than In contrast the general population on the scales of autonomy, succorance, nurturance and aggression. displayed an in terest in social service w ork. On SVIB police applicants 19 In sum m ary, these findings are not too surprising since it has been noted by Wilson 20 and others th at 60 to 80 p ercent o f all police work is rela te d to p e r­ form ing some type of service to the com m unity. T h erefo re , police applicants have a general in terest p a tte rn s im ila r to people interested in social service w ork. Several other fa cto rs may have contributed to the lack of sig nifican t findings, including sm all sample sizes and lack o f e ffe c tiv e measures o f job satisfaction . *^Solis L . K ates, "Rorschach Responses, Strong Blank Scales and Job Satis­ factio n Among P olicem en," Journal o f Applied Psychology, 34 (June, 1950), 2 4 9 254. I ft 19 20 K ole, op. c it ., p. 85. M a ta ra z z o , et al, op. c it ., pp. 125-131. James Q. Wilson, V a rie tie s o f P olice Behavior (C am bridge, Massachu­ setts: H arvard U nivsersity Press, 1969), pp. 16-19. 32 Personality C haracteristics Police o ffic e rs have been c h a ra c te rize d on the one hand as individuals w ith an excessive love of children and old people, the thin blue line th at p ro tects our dem ocratic way of life , the vanguard o f the fig ht against c rim e , or on the other hand as sociopaths who derive g reat satisfaction out of beating people or as stubborn upholders of the status quo. P olice o ffic e rs have been the victim s o f cruel exploitation by the mass m edia and popular lite ra tu re which tend to p erp etu ate these stereotypes. Most researchers do not subscribe to these sim plistic stereo­ types in th e ir research. Nonetheless, most research in police organizations has im p licitly assumed th a t th e re is a single police personality, and this personality d iffers from non-police. H ow ever, several studies have produced results th a t suggest the average police applicant does not d iffe r substantially from the average w h ite c o lla r or o ffic e w orker in term s of personality tra its . 21 These studies used a wide v a rie ty of personality measures including the Jastak P ersonality te s t, Rorschach Inkblot Test, the Minnesota M ultiphasic P ersonality Inventory, T a y lo r M an ifest A n x ie ty Scale, and the Saslow Psychosomatic Inventory. commonly used personality tests fo r G rencik, et al found th a t the most police applicants w ere M ultiphasic P ersonality Inventory (M M P I) and the Rorschach Inkblot. the Minnesota 22 21 Stephen N o w icki, "A Study of P ersonality C h aracteristics o f Successful Policem en," P o lic e, 10 (J an -F eb ., 1966), 39 -4 2 . Spaulding, loc. c it,; K ates, loc. c it.; M a ta ra zzo , loc. c it. 22 J. G rencik, e t a l, Physiological Fitness Standards Research P ro je c t, LE A A G ra n t N o. H I -7 0 -0 4 2 , InterirrTlRepo'rti June, 1971. 23 C lifto n R head, e t a l, "The Psychological Assessment of P olice C an di­ dates," A m e ric a n J o u rn a lo fP s y c h ia ri^ ., 124 (M a y , 1968), 1575-1580. 33 Gottesm an c o llec ted M M P I p rofiles on 203 applicants who had also passed all of the selection hurdles for an urban police d epartm en t from Gottesman also co llected 100 M M P I p ro files fro m a group o f non-disabled w ar veterans to use as a "peer norm al" comparison group. were compared w ith 1966-1969. profiles from These tw o sets of profiles tw o o th er groups, some C incinn ati police recruits reported by M ills, e t al in 1964 and the M M P I norm al standardization group reported by D ahlstrom and Welsh in I9 6 0 . The results from the firs t comparison indicated th at the typical police ap plicant was m ore positively adjusted but m ore defensive than the average m em ber of the ve teran group. The ve teran group and the police applicant group both d iffe re d fro m the M M P I general population norms. Gottesman cautioned the reader th a t the use of M M P I general population norms may be inappropriate as a comparison fo r police applicants but fa ile d to explain why it is in a p p ro p ria te .^ Goldstein compared 500 police applicants who passed a C iv il Service test for the position of police o ffic e r to 600 applicants who had fa ile d the C iv il Service exam ination and th eir scores on c e rta in measures of the M M P I. G en erally the applicants who passed the C iv il Service exam ination w ere assessed to be less likely to avoid dangerous situations, m ore prone to believe in th e honesty o f others, and more likely assistance. to listen to the problems of others and o ffe r them advice and The applicants who fa ile d the C iv il Service exam ination expressed a greater interest in situations which m ight bring harm to others and w ere judged to hold unrealistic in terp retatio n s of th eir a b ility . 25 The working personality o f police o ffic e rs has also generated much in terest ^ J o s e p h G ottesm an, P erson ality P attern s of Urban Police A pplicants as Measured by the M M P I (Hoboken, N ew Jersey: L abo ratory o f Psychological Studies, Stevens In stitu te of Technology, 1969). 25 L.S. G oldstein, Perspectives on Law E n fo rcem ent; I. C h a ra cte ris tics o f Police A pplicants (P rinceton , N ew Jersey: Educational Testing S ervice, 1971). 34 among social scientists. L e fk o w itz discussed tw o tr a it syndromes th a t are o ften used to describe the "cop personality." One is a com bination o f isolation, cynicism , suspiciousness and secrecy. H e suggests th a t the social isolation o f the police, on both the individual and organization al level, gives rise to a generally cynical outlook and intense feelings o f in-group so lid a rity. H e adds th at the cynicism can also be a product of " re a lity shock" experienced by the id ealis tic re c ru it when he encounters the real w orld. S o lid arity is enhanced by the common sharing of danger. Isolation is probably the result of the in a b ility of people to view a police o ffic e r outside his role. 26 The o th er t r a it syndrome th a t L e fk o w itz examines consists of a u th o rity, 27 aggression, status, and s e lf-e s te e m . Th ere has been a g re a t deal o f discussion about w hether a u th o ritarian and aggressive personalities are selected into police agencies or if th e job its e lf creates these types of personalities. N e id e rh o ffe r, fo r example, argued th a t "there is no self-selectio n among au th o rita ria n personalities prior to appointm ent. It is the police system, not the personality of the candidate, th at is the more pow erful d e term in an t o f behavior and ideology." 28 According to L e fk o w itz , the crucial fa c to r is not the am ount o f author­ itarianism or aggression or the personality of the police o ffic e r, but the manner in which it is experienced, co n tro lled , and expressed. 29 Findings of high author­ itarianism among policem en can be due as much to the biases of the researcher expressed in his m easurem ent instrum ents as to any real d iffe re n c e betw een police o fficers and other people. 26 Since we put a police o ffic e r in the position of Joel L e fk o w itz , Job A ttitu d e s of P o lice (N ew Y ork: College of the C ity U n iv ersity of N ew Y ork, 1971). 77 B ernard M . Baruch Ibid. op A rth u r N e id e rh o ffe r, Behind the Shield: The P olice in Urban Society (New Y ork: Anchor Books, 1967), p. 45. 29 L e fk o w itz , loc. c it. 35 exercising g re a t discretion in ambiguous situations, th e o ffic e r n a tu rally behaves in an au tho ritarian m anner. The o ffic e r o fte n has to m ake decisions very quickly and under em ergency conditions. ism. Quick decisions can be in terp rete d as a u th o rita ria n - Since the police o ffic e r's au th o rity to m ake these decisions is challenged so often, it is not surprising th a t he is m ore concerned w ith the question o f au th o rity than civilians are. This concern w ith the question of a u th o rity may be w hat the studies are recording, rath er than data on a personality t r a it in terp reted as authoritarianism . These tw o among policem en. "personality syndromes" com e from average m easurem ents As averages, they provide understanding of the environm ent in which policem en work, but they do not help us understand d ifferen ces among individual policem en. Th ere is as much v a rie ty in people inside police departm ents as outside. The descrip tive studies concerned w ith personality tr a its o f police applicants have found e ith e r th a t the average police ap plicant does not d iffe r substantially from the general population or th a t he d iffe rs from general norms w ith respect to jo b -re la te d personality ch aracteristics. Biographical inform ation The most com m only reported biographical data in studies o f police appli­ cants have been age and education. E a rlie r studies conducted by Term an and M e rrill indicated th a t the average police ap p lican t was re la tiv e ly older a t the tim e of appointm ent than today's ap p lican t, being 30 years or older. 30 Most recent studies have shown th a t the average police ap plicant is re la tiv e ly young, averaging about 25 years of age. 30 31 The e a rly studies also found th a t police applicants had a Term an, loc. c it.; M e rr ill, loc. c it. 31 M a ta ra z z o , loc. c it.; Blum , loc. c it. 36 very low educational level, generally only 7 to 9 years. 32 M o re recen t investi­ gations indicate th a t th e average police applicant has graduated from high school and th at increasing numbers o f applicants have some college education. 33 Goldstein has extensively exam ined biographical inform atio n o f applicants for police jobs in N ew Jersey. Among his findings are th a t the typical applicant had worked a t two fu ll-tim e jobs prior to his application, o fte n had work experience related to police work (e.g., m ilita ry police, se curity guard, e tc .), had experienced little unem ploym ent, and had been in m ilita ry service. Most of the applicants w ere m arried, had one to th ree dependents and lit t le personal indebtedness other than home mortgages and au to loans. The applicants generally w ere raised by both parents and had one to th ree siblings. populations over 10,000. They grew up in towns and c itie s w ith T h e ir fath ers w ere o fte n em ployed in c ra fts and trades w ith re la tiv e ly fe w in service w ork, sales, the professions, or m anagerial positions. The applicants had good driving and legal backgrounds w ith a rre s ts . few violations or 34 The descrip tive studies of th e biographical applicants show tw o trends of im portance. younger and b e tte r educated. ch aracteristics The police applicant In addition, the police of police is becoming applicant comes from a working-class environm ent in term s of background history variables. A ccording to Ross, th e purpose of background in form atio n is to d eterm in e 32 August V o llm er, "A P ra c tic a l M ethod fo r S electing P olicem en," Journal o f C rim in al Law and C rim inology, I I (F e b ., 1921) 571. Edw ard M. M a rtin , "A ptitude Tests fo r P olicem en," Journal of C rim in al L a w and C rim inology, 14 (1923), 376. L . J. O 'R ourke, "Personnel Problems in the P olice D ep artm ent^ U .S . C ivil Service Commission, 43 Annual R e p o rt (1926), p. 74. 33 Solomon Gross, "H igher Education and the P o lice," Journal o f P olice Science and A dm in istratio n , I (D e c ., 1973), 47 7-4 83. Dennis Sm ith and E linor Ostrom, "The E ffe c ts of Training and Education on P olice and P erform ance: A P relim inary Analysis" unpublished Research Study, N ew Y o rk U n iv ersity , 1974. ^ G o ld s te in , loc. c it. 37 If the applicant's ch a ra c te r and reputation a re suitable fo r a police o ffic e r. Application blanks are used to c o llec t this in form atio n. 35 T y p ic a lly , application blanks used by police departm ents ask fo r more in fo rm atio n and g re a te r d e tail than the personal history blanks used in industry. The application blank which Ross recommends is ap p roxim ately 18 pages long and requests inform ation on personal and financial a c tiv itie s as w ell as inform ation about violations o f crim inal and civ il + * ♦ 36 statutes. Cohen found th a t only 14.6 percent of applicants rejected on the basis o f background in form atio n. investigated w ere H ow ever, an additional 18 percent never returned a com pleted application blank, despite having passed the m ental and physical exam inations. A pplicants m ay have fa ile d to turn in the application blank because it was too d iffic u lt to com plete, or because they believed their backgrounds would have disqualified them . It is p a rtic u la rly disconcerting that Cohen estim ates 60 p ercent of black applicants who passed the entrance exams fa ile d to com plete the application blank, w hile the com parable a ttritio n ra te fo r whites is only 25 percent. 37 It is evident th a t the u tility of the descriptive study is quite lim ite d . Most studies of this nature deal w ith a large number of variables in an a tte m p t to produce a general p ro file o f the typ ical police applicant o r working police o ffic e r. No a tte m p t has been made to d eterm ine relationships between in tellig en ce, vocational interests, personality ch aracteristics or biographical inform atio n and some c rite rio n of job perform ance. T h e re fo re , w hile the descriptive study may be ---------------35--------- Jew ell Ross, "The Background Investigation" in P o lice S election (ed.) Richard Blum (S pringfield, Illinois: Charles C . Thomas Publisher, 1964), pp. 157— 158. 36lbid., pp. 166-172. 37 Bernard Cohen, "The P olice Internal A dm inistratio n of Justice in N ew York C ity ," The N ew York Rand In s titu te , Vol. R - 6 2 I- N Y C , Novem ber, 1970. 38 usefuJ descriptively, th e researcher learns nothing about w heth er the measures used can predict the job perform ance of candidates. In the last fe w years researchers have become m ore sophisticated and valid atio n o f police selection devices has become more e ffic ie n t. The rem ainder of the lite ra tu re review w ill address the em pirical question of te s t valid atio n . V A L ID IT Y S TU D IE S The police selection studies described in this section a tte m p t to exam ine the relationship between predictors of job perform ance such as age, academ y score, C ivil Service test perform ance which scores, arrest history, include supervisory e tc ., ratings, and measures absenteeism of actual job and d u ty-incurred injuries. G enerally, v a lid ity studies use pred icto r variables discovered through three d iffre re n t kinds of in fo rm atio n co llection instrum ents, m ental tests, personality tests, and biographical in fo rm atio n . This model has sought to link predictors, i.e ., various measures of individual d ifferen ces , d ire c tly w ith perform ance c rite ria , i.e ., various measures of organization al or job success through an index o f relationships. The valid atio n model specifies th at persons on any given job be divided on some global measure (such as o verall perform ance or p o ten tia l fo r prom otion) into success and fa ilu re and th a t they be com pared on test scores, biographical inform ation or any other availab le personal m easurem ent. M ental Tests The e a rlie s t recorded study on the effectiveness of m ental tests used fo r police selection was conducted by M a rtin in 1923. M a rtin used perform ance c rite ria consisting of in tellig en ce, discipline, e ffic ie n c y and m u ltip le supervisory ratings. His pred icto r variables consisted o f results from tw e lv e m ental tests including a rith m e tic fundam entals, a rith m e tic reasoning, number copying and 39 statistics, tests of spelling, "opposites," reading, common sense and rapid judgm ent responses to crim e situations and directions and verbal in tellig en ce tests. M a rtin obtained a m u ltip le co rrelatio n of .74 when he com pared eight of the tw e lv e m ental test scores w ith the e ffic ie n c y index c rite rio n . three parts of the ratin g scale. No results are given fo r the other Also, it must be noted th a t the results w ere obtained from a sample of only 30 cases, and the author fa ils to describe how the sample was drawn. In addition, the highest single c o rrela tio n was .39 fo r the number copying varia b le . As w ith many ea rly studies of this nature th ere is an absence of cross-validation, especially necessary when using a large number of predictor variables and sm all number of subjects. 38 Since m ental tests w ere o rig in ally developed to p red ict academ ic achieve­ ment, it can be assumed th at scores on these exam inations would show a positive relationship to measures of tra in a b ility . from th eir study o f Dubois and Watson, fo r exam ple, found 129 recru its th a t ve rb al, num erical block scores, and to ta l scores on the A G C T w ere sig n ifican tly c o rre la te d w ith th e grade police recru its received at the end of an eig h t-w eek train ing program . .60 was obtained. A m u ltiple co rrelatio n o f The non-verbal perform ance c r ite ria used in the study w ere achievem ent te st score, marksmanship and supervisory service ratin g tests. No predictor te st score was found to be sig nifican tly re la te d to supervisory ratings. The authors concluded th a t the to ta l b a tte ry o f tests based on supervisory ratings was a ra th e r poor p red icto r. They considered supervisory ratings to be ambiguous and dependent on personalities. form ats are to ta lly influence the ra te r. The authors conclude th a t perform ance appraisal inadequate because nonperform ance fa cto rs m ay g re a tly 39 Edward M . M a rtin , "An E xperim ent in N ew Methods o f Selecting P o lic e ­ men," N crH onal_M un^ 12 (1923), 6 7 1-6 81. Dubois and Watson, op. c it ,, pp. 9 1 -9 3 . 40 In a sim ila r study Ciopton reported a co rrela tio n betw een fin a l police academy grades and A G C T to ta l score of .16 fo r tw o groups of police recruits. Ciopton also found th a t the to ta l A G C T score was not re la te d to supervisory ratings in any sig nifican t way. A second perform ance c rite rio n was developed by Ciopton to m easure the "mean a c tiv ity " of police o ffic e rs across a v a rie ty of dimensions by job sampling th e ir a c tiv itie s . This technique also proved to be inadequate since the "mean a c tiv ity score" was not rela te d to A G C T score fo r the sample. Ciopton concluded th at p re-em ploym ent test scores have no e ffe c t on police academ y grades. H e a ttrib u te s this to the lack o f p re -te s t v a lid a tio n /*^ M ullineaux selected a sample of 322 police applicants by use of the A G C T and a personal in tervie w . Both the A G C T and personal in te rv ie w ca rried equal weight w ith a m axim um o f 50 possible points each. the top 50 w ere probationary period. sent to the po lice The candidates w ere ranked, academ y and im m e d ia te ly began their C o rre la tio n c o e ffic ie n ts w ere com puted between th e recruit's A G C T scores and his mean spelling grades, repo rt w ritin g scores, fin a l overall scores a t the end o f train ing and fin al exam ination averages. correlations w ere reported: The follow ing .56 betw een A G C T scores and spelling test, .60 between the A G C T scores and re p o rt w ritin g , .66 betw een A G C T scores and fin al scores a t the end o f train ing and .73 betw een A G C T scores and average final exam ination grades in academ ic subjects. 41 A fte r com pletion of re c ru it train ing school, the subjects w ere tran sfered to their respective assignments. A t the end o f three months and again at the end o f six months th eir perform ance was evalu ated by supervisory o ffic ia ls . Although **®W. C iopton, J r., Com parison of R atings and F ie ld P erform ance D a ta in V alidating Predictions of P atrolm en P erform ance: A E iv e -Y e a r Followup Study, M7A., Washington S ta te U n iv ersity , 1971. Jewel I E . M ullineaux, "An E valuation of P redictors Used P atrolm en ," Public Personnel R e v ie w , 16 (A p ril, 1965), 84 -86 . to Select Mullineaux reports no statistical data, he does point out that the en tire sample was rated as satisfactory or above. From these results Mullineaux recommends th at the AGCT and the personal in terview be im portant elem ents in the selection process because of their predictive q u a litie s .^ Nonetheless, Mullineaux overlooks some very im portant considerations in arriving a t these conclusions. Fo r instance, the va lid ity of the in terview process was not assessed. Second, it may well be th a t the other 268 subjects of the original sample could have done just as w ell in recruit school as the top 50 candidates. Third, probationary period ratings are performance. Once a recru it to ta lly reaches th at inadequate as indicators of job stage in his career, the police adm inistrator does not want him to resign because of the large financial investm ent in his training. Consequently, nearly all probationary recruits receive at least a satisfactory rating. The most comprehensive use of m ental test scores fo r predicting police performance was developed by Baehr, Furcon and Froem el fo r the Chicago Police Departm ent. An extensive b a tte ry of w ritte n intelligence tests w ere administered to two separate groups of police officers who had a t least one year of job experience. developed The subjects were selected on the basis of a paired-com parison test by the authors. performance of a t least Each supervisor who was acquainted w ith the 10 of the patrolm en in the sample was requested to evaluate each pair of o ffic e rs and answer the question "which of these two men is the b e tte r perform er on the s tre e t," performance in the field?" and "which is the b e tte r in term s of A ll levels of tenure were represented in the sample. The w ritte n tests w ere measures of m ental a b ilitie s including non-verbal reasoning, closure fle x ib ility addition, there and speed, perceptual speed and verbal comprehension. w ere tests of c re a tiv e and social aptitudes, work In in terest, 42 personality tra its and background inform ation. P erform ance c rite ria w ere divided into eight categories: paired comparison supervisory ratings, departm ental graphic ratings, tenure, awards, com plaints, arrests, disciplinary action and absenteeism. The results of the performance variable regression indicated analysis o f all the test scores against each th at m ultiple correlations above .60 could be obtained fo r the paired comparison rating the the police departm ent's perform ance rating. The m u ltip le co rrelatio n co e ffic ie n ts for prediction o f absenteeism, disciplinary problems, and awards were typically lower, being in the range of .50 to .55. Upon cross-validation the m u ltiple correlations w ere reduced to the .30 to .40 range. The authors concluded th a t there were significant and high relationships between the test scores and a ll eight of the perform ance c rite ria used. Of particular interest to this study is the discovery th at the predictors having the highest correlations w ith job perform ance, consistent among subjects in the sample, were elements of background and experience derived from a Personal H istory Index and background in fo rm a tio n .^ A lb e it, the Baehr, e t al study is one of the b e tte r research e ffo rts in this area it is not w ithout its flaws. F irs t, the paper and pencil tests used to measure personality and background characteristics is inappropriate. Second, the subjects in the study were volunteers and a fte r being rank order by supervisory ratings, none of them fe ll in the middle comparison rankings. third o f perform ance, as measured by the paired- F in ally, the authors did not use any variables where a specified ranking is a prerequisite for appointm ent, e.g., C iv il Service scores. The present study avoids the biases introduced by using volunteers, since a cohort design controls for the variable of tenure. Also, background inform ation on the ^ M e la n y E, Baehr, John E. Furcon, and Ernest C. Froem el, "Psychological Assessment of Patrolm en Q ualifications in R elation to Field Perform ance," The Industrial R elations C en ter, U niversity of Chicago (Washington, D .C .: U.S. Govern­ m ent Printing O ffic e , 1968). 43 subjects was reported a t th e tim e o f applicatio n and was checked fo r accuracy by a thorough police background investigation, thus m inim izing false in form atio n. Personality Tests Numerous studies on th e personality tr a its o f police applicants have been carried out in the last th re e decades. P resen tly, it is d iffic u lt to d eterm ine whether personality tra its and values are determ ined by the selection o f persons w ith specific class backgrounds, a com bination o f this background selection and the selection of specific personality types, or a fu rth e r com bination o f these selection processes and the so cialization of police o ffic e rs into an occupational subculture. In an early study by H um m and H um m , the Hum m -W adsw orth Tem peram ent Scale was used to p red ict success as a police o ffic e r. to a sample o f 669 probationary police o ffic e rs . The scale was adm inistered P erfo rm an ce was judged on the basis of voluntary or involuntary te rm in a tio n or the achievem ent of an execu tive position. E x tre m e ly high co rrelatio ns w ere appraisals and this p e rform ance c rite rio n . found between Hum m -W adsw orth The authors reported th a t in the dis­ missal group th e Hum m -W adsw orth Scale was in agreem ent w ith perform ance criterio n in about 91.3% of the cases. A nother group, who w ere appointed a fte r passing a C iv il Service te s t, w ere given the tem p eram en t scale and scores agreed 84.4% w ith dismissals. The co rrela tio n c o e ffic ie n ts for the police success group were also unusually high, ap p roxim ately . 7 2 . ^ These studies are p o te n tia lly of g re a t in terest, not only because of the high correlations obtained, but also because applicants in the firs t study noted w ere appointed to the d e p artm en t w ith o u t fir s t passing th e C iv il Service test. Nevertheless, the research design and methods used to select the sample make the ^ D o n c a s te r G. Hum m and K ath ryn A . H um m , "Hum m -W adsw orth T em p er­ am ent Scale Appraisals C om pared w ith C r ite r ia of Job Success in the Los Angeles Police D e p a rtm e n t,11 Journal o f Psychology, 30 (July, 1950), 63-75 . 44 results d iffic u lt to in te rp re t because a ll members of the population did no t have an equal chance of being selected in the sam ple. It is not possible to draw conclusions about perform ance d ifferen ces since th e C iv il Service te s t was not adm inistered to all applicants. The s ta tis tic a l analysis used by Hum m and Hum m has been c ritic iz e d by Blum. Blum points out th a t the ratio of men fire d to men resigned suggests an unusual situation in the police hierarchy. Among the to ta l sample o f 669, 79 resigned, 233 w ere fire d and 357 rem ained a c tiv e w ith the d epartm en t. A t the tim e of testing, the Humms predicted th a t 359 out of th e to ta l 669 would do poorly in police work and th a t 310 would do fa ir or good w ork. Among th e 359 predicted to do fa ir or good work, 245 or 70 percent did so. Blum pointed out th a t th e ra te of false positives (men who a re pred icted to do w ell but who in f a c t g e t fire d ) was 2! percent w hile the ra te of false negatives (men pred icted to do badly but who did well) was 53 percent. T h e re fo re , the Humms expected 54 percent (359/6 69 ) to do badly, but only 34 p ercen t (233/669) w ere really fire d . Among these 233 fire d individuals, the Humms had c o rre c tly id e n tifie d 72 percent of them by th e ir testing program. Blum's analysis forces the conclusion th a t th e Hum m -W adsw orth Tem peram ent Scale is not as good a p red icto r o f police job success as it seemed upon fir s t reading. 45 C o la re lli and Siegel exam ined a police selection program of th e Kansas State Highway P a tro l. They adm inistered th e C a lifo rn ia Test of M en tal M a tu rity , the A llp o rt-V ern o n -L in d ze y Study of Values, the EPPS and the M M PI to m em bers of the Highway P a tro l. E ight job p e rform ance variables recorded during the preceding year (moving hazardous arrests, moving hazardous warnings, other arrests, services rendered, light co rrection , m iles per c o n ta ct w ith and w ith o u t radar and hours per 45 Blum , op. c it ., pp. 106-108. 45 arrest) w ere sum m arized into a com posite index fo r each patrolm an on the fo rce. A prediction form ula was then developed (th e exact procedure is not stated by the authors) which was applied to 60 new recru its who took the same te s t b a tte ry . Ratings w ere made a t a la te r tim e by supervisors who w ere unaware of the predictions. The results w ere presented only in general term s. A ll but one candidate predicted to be a fa ilu re w ere eith e r te rm in a ted or judged by th eir supervisor as poor or m arginal in their perform ance. The men predicted to be good policemen generally perform ed w e ll. Conclusions from this study are questionable even though th e results appear encouraging. No specific co rrelatio ns or significance tests were reported, nor w ere the re la tiv e numbers o f successes and failures reported. The specific relationships betw een predictors and measures of job success are not given so the read er does not know the re la tiv e power o f the various predictors used in th e study. Hogan investigated 46 the personality ch aracteristics of three classes o f police cadets a t the M aryland S ta te P olice A cadem y ( N = i4 l) and state police officers w ith one ye ar’s experience (N =42). The subjects w ere adm inistered the C alifornia Psychological Inventory w ith s ta ff and supervisory ratings serving as criterion scores. The results of the study suggest that highly ra te d police o ffic e rs score high on C P I scales fo r in tellig en ce, self-confidence, and so cia b ility. A ccord­ ing to Hogan, the results he has reported re p lic a te e a rlie r research findings of M atarazzo , Baehr, e t al and other psychological research and show th a t the popular stereotypic conception of the police o ffic e r described in sociological survey data is to tally invalid. The p ic tu re which em erges from the Hogan analysis d iffe rs markedly from the popular im age of the police officer.**^ ^ N i c k J. C o la re lli and Saul M . Siegel, "A M ethod of P olice Personnel Selection,” Journal o f C rim in al Law , C rim inology, and P olice Science, 55 (June, 1964), pp. 287-290. ^ R o b e r t Hogan, "Personality C h a ra cte ris tics of H ighly R a te d P o licem en,” Personnel Psychology, 24 (W in ter, 1971), 679-685. 46 It is e x tre m e ly d iffic u lt to defin e personality tra its and devise ways to measure them a c cu rately . P ersonality re fle c ts the nature of a person's adjustm ent to the interpersonal and situational demands of his environm ent. P ersonality measures in the studies quoted e s tim a te the subjects' typ ical behavior p a tte rn in adjusting to the interpersonal or social aspects o f his work m ilieu . According to Ghiselli's summary, personality tests m ay be "good bets" as po ten tial predictors of job success, but should no t be relied on as the only pred icto r. In fa c t as M cNem ar has pointed out, general in tellig en ce measures usually can be useful predictors only o f nontest behaviors such as scholastic success. 49 Biographical Inform ation Cross and Ham m ond exam ined th e background successful and unsuccessful Colorado highway patrolm en. d ifferen ces betw een Successful patrolm en were defined as those employed by th e Colorado H ighw ay P a tro l fo r at least one year. Unsuccessful patrolm en w ere defined as men who had resigned or been dismissed during the previous th re e years. The results indicate th a t th e patrolm an's fam ily status and fo rm e r occupation are m ajor facto rs c o rre la te d w ith job success. For exam ple, successful patrolm en w ere em ployed in ag ric u ltu re and w ere single or m arried w ith no children w h ile unsuccessful patrolm en w ere found to be em ployed in cle rical or sales occupations and e ith e r m arried w ith children or divorced. These findings are patrolm en d iffic u lt who to ev alu ate vo lu n tarily unsuccessful group. since th e resigned and researchers fa ile d w ere elig ib le for to distinguish re h ire fro m th e A d d itio n ally, no cross-validation was a tte m p te d since the 4R E .E . G hiselli, The V a lid ity o f O ccupational A p titu d e Tests (N ew Y ork: Wiley and Sons, 1966), p. 129. 49 Quinn M cN em ar, "Lost: gist, 19 (D e c ., 1964), 871-8 82. Our In tellig en ce. Why?" A m erican Psycholo­ 47 stud/ appears to be only concerned w ith co ncurrent v a lid i t y .^ Levy studied the personal files o f 4500 law en fo rcem en t o ffic e rs fro m 14 police organizations from 1952 through 1962. These agencies included ten municipal police departm ents, th re e county sheriff's departm ents and the C a lif­ ornia Highway P a tro l. Successful o ffic e rs w ere defined as those who rem ained on the job, w hile unsuccessful w ere defined as those who le ft police w ork e ith e r through resignation o r dismissal. The relationship betw een these defin ition s and 140 predictor variables was an alyzed. W hile the results are too lengthy to review in detail, it can be noted th a t the successful o ffic e rs tended to have the g reatest amount of work experience, the least education, w ere older a t tim e o f appointm ent and were likely to have had some police science courses. Those o ffic e rs who term inated w ith clean records tended to be younger a t the tim e o f appointm ent and had the g reatest am ount of education. Those o ffic e rs dismissed fo r due cause had the most tr a ffic violations, w ere most lik ely to have been fire d from previous jobs and had the greatest number of m arriages. Levy also found th a t unsuccessful o fficers w ere unable to cope w ith job imposed stress. H ow ever, it is d iffic u lt to assess the usefulness of these findings since the sample was obtained fro m agencies that vary along some very im p o rtan t dimensions, including departm en t size, job function, type o f agency and h iera rc h ic al stru ctu re. Again no cross-validation was attem pted,'* ^ In a study conducted by M c A llis te r, an a tte m p t was made to determ in e the effectiveness o f one phase of the selection process by exam ining th e background ch aracter investigation. The hypothesis o f in terest concerned the question: "Can the investigators, through th e ir knowledge o f a police candidate gained through the "^ A rth u r C . Cross and K enneth R . Ham m ond, "Social D iffe re n c e s Betw een ’Successful and Unsuccessful* S ta te H ighw ay P a tro lm e n ," Public Personnel R ev iew , 12 (July, 1951), 159-162. Ruth J. Levy, "P redictin g P o lice F ailu res," Journal o f C rim in a l Law , C rim inology and P olice Science, 58 (June, 1967), 26 5-2 67. 48 investigators, through their knowledge of a police candidate gained through the investigative process, predict success or fa ilu re in the police career?" 52 Using the records of 396 New York C ity police recruits, M c A llis te r attem p ted to establish the extent to which the q u a lita tiv e descriptions (good, fa ir, poor) of applicants by background investigators represent predictions of on-the-job perform ance. c rite ria made up the perform ance valuation: achievement of training standards, form al Seven tim e lost, tim e lost for injuries, recognition or outside perform ance, absence of form al disciplinary charges, com pletion of probationary period, and the supervisory evaluation. Comparisons were made using means and percentages. No differences were found on job perform ance c r ite ria between o ffic e rs approved and those disapproved by background investigators. Thus M c A llis te r concluded that the background investigation may not be valid as a predictor of fu tu re job p erfo rm ance. 53 K ent and Eisenberg describe a study by McConnell in which a signficant correlation of .44 was found between scores on a biographical inform ation form and supervisor perform ance rating forms of success or failu re fo r 97 line Colorado patrolm en. The patrolm en w ith higher scores on the weighted personal history form rated were higher by their supervisors than those with lower scores. However, there is no inform ation concerning which item s w ere scored, and no attem pt at cross-validation was reported. 54 Perhaps the best sociological study o f background characteristics is the one authored by Cohen and Chaiken of the New York Ci1y Rank Institute.'*'* 11 is a part James A. M c A llis te r, "A Study o f the Prediction and M easurem ent of Police Perform ance," Police, 14 (S e p t.-O c t., 1970), 58. 53lbid., pp. 58-64. 54 Deborah A . K ent and Terry Eisenberg, "The Selection and Prom otion of Police O fficers: A Selected R eview of R ecent L ite ra tu re ," P olice C h ief, 39 (Feb., 1972), 20-29. Bernard Cohen and Jan Chaiken, P olice Background C haracteristics and P erform ance, The N ew York C ity Rand In stitute R -9 9 9 -D O J , August, 1972. 49 of an omnibus research study examining various aspects of police selection, assignm ent, promotion and rew ard policies. As the authors state: We have compared the background characteristics of a targe group of o ffice rs in the New York C ity Police D epartm ent w ith available measures of their perfor­ mance on the job to determ ine the type of candidate who isj-^kely to display specific patterns of p e rfo r­ mance. A ll 1he data were collected in 1968, based on 1,9 15 o ffic e rs appointed to the New York C ity D epartm ent in 1957. A p a rt from the numerous predictor variables (33 in a ll), which include race, age, I.Q ., and C ivil Service exam scores, employment records, m ilita ry history, early perform ance, e tc ., and the 13 performance variables (e.g., departm ental awards, crim inal misconduct, civilian review board hearings, e tc .), the authors distinguished theirs from previous studies on the following grounds: a. b. c. d. e. f. A ll the subjects were o ffice rs in a single police departm ent, and yet the sample size is large enough to study interesting subgroups such as black o ffice rs , detectives and college-educated men. A ll the subjects entered the P olice D epartm ent in a single year hence the possibility of a cohort design. N ea rly every o ffic e r who entered the D epartm ent in the selected year is included as a subject - hence no need fo r volunteers. We did not confine our study to o ffic e rs o f a p a rticu lar rank. In fa c t, the en tire range from patrolm en to captain is represented in the same. Thus, it is possible to use career advancement as a measure of perform ance. A ll of the data w ere collected at least I I years a fte r the subjects' appointm ent, thus providing a substantial period o f tim e over which to measure perform ance. Although most of our perform ance measures rely on Ihe documented actions taken by the D ep artm ent in respect to each o ffic e r; ... we do have extensive data opytwo com m uniy-derived (albeit negative) measures of perform ance. Also unlike previous research, Cohen and Chaiken make use o f cross-tabulation and regression analysis to com pile "Police P erform ance Profiles" and "Police C areer Profiles." Using the predictor variables, 1hey id en tify types of o fficers, e.g., those ^ I b id . , p. iii. 57lbid., p. 2. 50 likely to be discipline problem s, those lik ely to incur c iv ilia n com plaints, those likely to rapidly advance through the ranks, or becom e d etectives. 58 One m ajor conclusion of the study is th a t early job perform ance measured by the recru it train ing score and probationary ratin g predicts la te r job p e rfo r­ mance. A dd itio nally, strong predictors w ere discovered in the subject's previous behavior and experience observed over a period o f tim e: em ploym ent record, m ilitary disciplinary actions, repeated appearances in c iv il co u rt, and education. These findings represent a positive evaluation of th e D epartm ent's background investigation and co n trad ict the e a rlie r research findings of M c A llis te r. B ack­ ground ch aracteristics found not re la te d in any im po rtant way to la te r perform ance were: C iv il Service exam ination score, l.Q . score, arre s t fo r a p e tty crim e, m ilitary service, m ilita ry com m endations, fa th e r’s occupation, num ber of resi­ dences, aspects of e a rly fa m ily responsibility, (including m a rita l status, number of children, and debts), reported history of psychological disorder, place o f residence, and number of sum m onses.^ This is by fa r th e best prediction study com pleted to date; how ever, it is not without some m ethodological problems. F o r exam ple, it is possible th a t police o fficers joining th e fo rce in 1957 may not have been typ ical of o ffic e rs from 1952 or 1972 or any oth er year. Th ere may have been no great changes in the facto rs examined prior to or since 1957, but the reader has no way o f determ ining this. Factors such as the economic recession of 1956 a re not considered. In other words, there is no way o f knowing w heth er the 1957 cohort may be considered a typical cohort and if not, in w hat way it d iffe rs . N ow here in the study do the authors explain the ratio n ale fo r using o ffic e rs with eleven years of service ra th e r than, say, 10, 12 or 18 years. 5 8 lbid., pp. 140-147. 59lb id ., pp. 149-155. The reader can only speculate about th e magic of the eleven -year figure. Perhaps the greatest problem arising in this study is expressed by the asked by so many police adm inistrators: "What c r ite ria are to be used in q u e s tio n determining good police job perform ance?" In another study using th e same research design as the Cohen and C haiken study, Kayode exgm ined the background ch aracteristics of 217 Philadelphia police officers and re la te d them to the same perform ance c r ite ria used by Cohen and Chaiken. His interest was in th e question, "Can we predict th e perform ance o f police o ffic e rs on th e basis of social background characteristics?" Kayode con­ cluded th a t background ch aracteristics of police candidates are very p re d ic tiv e of future perform ance as police o ffic e rs . According to the author's resuits, educational a tta in m e n t em erges as the best p red icto r of job perform ance. Age, previous em ploym ent ratings, previous arre s t record and number of prior jobs w ere also considered to be "good" predictors o f the job perform ance o f the cohort under study. Kayode's data did not indicate any sig n ifican t d iffe re n c e betw een black and white police o ffic e rs . This may be due to the sm all sample size o f the study. M anyak has c re a te d a "new" instrum ent th at makes use of background inform ation to supplem ent the selection process of the P o rt A u th o rity P olice in New York and N ew Jersey. H e suggests that background inform ation can be useful in identifying successful and unsuccessful o ffic e rs . To do this Manyak proposes firs t the use o f a coded application fo rm which contains all the inform ation requested in w ritte n application form s. Second, to convert w ritte n te st scores into computer input. T h ird , to record the perform ance of previous o ffic e rs using term ination as the m ain c r ite ria o f perform ance; other measures of perform ance are supervisory evaluation, comm endations and disciplinary actions. The o b jective ^ O lin je m i J. Kayode, "P redictin g P erform ance on th e Basis of Social Background C hara cte ris tics : Case of the P hiladelphia P o lice, unpublished D o cto ral D issertation, U n iv ersity of Pennsylvania, 1973. 52 of Manyak's proposal is to establish a data re trie v a l system th a t id en tifies the best perform ers and relates perform ance c r ite ria to background d ata. The results indicate Manyak's design p red icted 62 percent of th e successful o ffic e rs . Manyak concluded that his instrum ent is an e ffic ie n t way of developing ch aracter profiles that are useful in th e selection process and recommends the creation o f a data retrieval system th at codes all background and perform ance inform ation. 61 Manyak's proposal is an e ffe c tiv e m ethod fo r co llectin g and storing in fo r­ mation; however, his s ta tis tic a l technique is open to question. It may be misleading to use descriptive statis tics (percentages) to predict perform ance. As y e t it may be prem ature to judge th e success o f Manyak's proposal since it has only been tested on a population of 54 o ffic e rs . Studies in police selection standards have also been proposed by other researchers. T h e N alio n a l P olice S election Standards P ro ject 62 presently being carried out by th e Selection Consulting C e n te r, Sacram ento, C a lifo rn ia , is a tte m p t­ ing to id e n tify knowledges, the skills, duties, a b ilitie s , tasks and responsibilities and o th er personal and the ch aracteristics corresponding required fo r successful perform ance as an e n try level law en forcem ent o ffic e r. Their proposed m ethodology is to conduct a series of job analysis workshops to acquire a first-h an d understanding of successful perform ance at the e n try -le v e l. police departm ents fo r inclusion the fa c to rs which are required for According to S C C , th e sampling o f in these workshops w ill seek to ensure th at representation is achieved w ith respect to such demographic variables as type o f departm ent (c ity vs. county, e tc .), type of com m unity service (urban vs. ru ra l, ^ T e r r e l l G. M anyak, "The Use of Background Inform ation in th e P o lice Selection Process," paper presented at the 1975 N ational C onference on Public A dm inistration, A p ril, 1975. 62 Stephen W ollack, P ro jec t D ire c to r, "N ational P olice Selection Standards P roject," Selection Consulting C e n te r, Sacram ento, C a lifo rn ia , Septem ber, 1974. 53 etc.), size o f com m unity served and geographic location. The sample representing police departm ents in the job analysis workshops w ill be composed of a crosssection of police o ffic e rs o f all ranks. approxim ately 20-25 police personnel. locations across the country, w ith Each workshop w ill be attended by These workshops w ill be held in various the exact location of each workshop being determined by th e geographical locations o f the p a rticip atin g departm ents. It is estim ated th a t approxim ately ten such workshops w ill be conducted. The main point of the job analysis is to determ ine w hether a given per­ formance dimension, i.e ., required applicant c a p a b ility , is relev an t to the departm ents making up each job function or grouping by co n textu al varia b le . Fo r example, to what e x te n t is the requ irem ent of w ritin g skills im p o rtan t in large, medium, or small sized departm ents? SCC emphasizes the point th a t the prim ary unit of analysis fo r the purpose of considering s im ila ritie s or differences among the departm ents and substrata is th a t o f perform ance dimensions or required applicant capabilities rath er than tasks. It is these dimensions which w ill guide the selection process and determ ine the nature of the selection instrum ents to be developed and validated. In another study proposed by the D ade County Public S afety D e p a rtm e n t three main objectives have been em phasized. F irs t, the developm ent of 63 a biographical data police o ffic e r selection to o l. Second, the developm ent o f a police o ffic e r perform ance evalu atio n appraisal fo rm a t. Th ird, to co m p uterize personnel inform ation to provide police adm in istrators w ilh v ita l em ployee d ata. The keynote to this study is the id e n tific a tio n and isolation o f c ritic a l job perform ance c r ite ria . On one hand, a structured developm ent o f the perform ance appraisal system is suggested to define job functions; w h ile on the other hand, ^ D a d e County Public S a fe ty D ep artm e n t, "Police O ffic e r Selection and P erform ance Analysis," unpublished research proposal, January, 1975. 5b relevant historical em ploym ent data (e.g. p o lic e -c iv ilia n encounters, reprim ands, commendations, accidents, absenteeism ) w ill be co llec ted from the em ployees’ Personnel and Internal R eview file s . W hile the past perform ance inform ation is being com piled, the follow ing approaches w ill be used to lay the groundwork fo r the proposed job evaluation ratin g device: 1. Task Analysis 2. a. Existing job descriptions b. O n -th e-jo b descriptions W orker Analysis a. 3. Em ployee interview s R eview of Existing Systems and Previous Research In addition, early perform ance measures depicting the progress of the candidate through the re c ru itm e n t and appointm ent process w ill be obtained fo r each subject. Examples of background subject's educational ch aracteristics and re c ru itm e n t history scores include the and perform ance, e x tra c u rric u la r a c tiv itie s , prior em ploym ent and m ilita ry history, fa m ily facto rs, sibling relationships, demographic data, physical facto rs, reading habits, arrest and c iv il court appearances, number of tr a ffic summonses, civ il service test scores, panel in tervie w scores, and background investigation assessment. E a rly perform ance measures include the P o lice In s titu te Training Bureau scores (e.g ., w ritte n tests, weapons, physical a g ility , class standing), P olice Academ y evaluations, Training P erfo rm an ce E valuation and the probationary evaluations. The fin al o b jec tive is a unique perform ance appraisal system in which an officer's present p e rfo rm a n ce w ill be evalu ated not only in relatio n w ith th at of his contem poraries but in light o f his whole ca re er p a tte rn since entering the fo rc e. The proposed tw o studies represent the firs t a tte m p ts at defining the tasks of police o ffic e rs . T ru ly a tremendous undertaking. A fte r this b rie f revie w , it is now approp riate to discuss the ratio n ale fo r 55 the present study. The m ajor reason fo r this study is to provide useful in form atio n to S ta te the M ichigan P olice about the relationships betw een characteristics and job perform ance among th e ir personnel. background This can be achieved by use of the m ethod em ployed by Cohen and Chaiken. The authors suggest th a t: The methods we used could be read ily adopted to th e personnel files o f nearly any police dep artm en t in the country, and fu rth e r research along these lines, includ­ ing va lid a tio n studies, would indicate the e x te n t to which the N ew York C ity 1957 cohort shows typical patterns of relationships .between background c h a ra c t­ eristics and perform ance. This study w ill a tte m p t to fo llow this suggestion. Second, this study w ill proceed on the sociological prem ise th a t variations exist between com m unities and also betw een police departm ents in d iffe re n tia l reward systems and p e rform ance evaluations. These variations become o f obvious importance in the in teractio n betw een each police departm en t and its p a rtic u la r community; geographic location, size and ethnic com position of com m unity, individual philosophy of police ad m in istratio n , salary size of the law en forcem ent departm ent its e lf, ra tio of law enforcem ent o ffic e rs to population, age of d e p art­ ment, type of enforcem ent agency (e .g ., police d epartm en t, sheriff's o ffic e or highway p a tro l, s ta te police) and numerous other organizational facto rs. As Ruth Levy (1967) m aintains: A tte m p ts to devise police selection techniques addres­ sed to id en tifyin g the successful or ideal peace o ffic e r may have fa ile d largely because o f the heterog eneity o f c h aracteristics required fro m agency to agency. Conclusions and Im plications This review does not enable th e police ad m in istrato r recomm endations about what th e "best" procedure m ight be men. to develop a set of fo r selecting po lice­ No single instrum ent has been shown to provide anac curate means ^ C o h e n and Chaiken, op. c it ., p. 28. ^ L e v y , op. c it., p. 274. of identifying even those candidates most lik e ly to become poor police o ffic e rs , much less p o ten tially outstanding ones. Fo r th e most p a rt, the research reported has been spotty and piecem eal, attending to only certain phases or aspects o f the policeman's job. E xcept for th e Cohen and Chaiken study, none has a tte m p te d to investigate the u tility o f a to ta l selection system, and few have a tte m p te d to provide any guidelines fo r th e o p tim al use or order o f ad m in istration fo r any predictor evalu ated . The prediction methods review ed have been shown to be useful only under ce rta in circum stances and fo r lim ite d inform ation (such as the predicting o f course grades or academ y ratings). Perhaps an im p o rtan t fla w in these studies is the lack of a tte n tio n given to job perform ance measures by the investigators. Most researchers have been content to re ly upon overall ratings of police effectiveness by supervisors or upon other indicators o f dubious o b je c tiv ity , such as com m endations or discplinary actions. Many of th e studies which have trie d to assess the effectiven ess of various selection procedures have had other serious weaknesses. A large number of such investigations have u tiliz e d academ y perform ance ra th e r than fie ld perform ance as the prim ary c rite rio n measure. The relationship between train ing perform ance and actual job perform ance is not alw ays high, and the m ore im p o rtan t m easure is actual fie ld perform ance. F ew studies have used a pred ictive valid atio n design in which p red icto r scores are re la te d to perform ance measures a fte r some tim e period has elapsed. M ore o fte n , concurrent va lid a tio n has been used. The existence of concurrent v a lid ity does not guarantee p re d ic tiv e v a lid ity , but the prim ary concern in personnel selection is the pred iction of subsequent job p erform ance. F in a lly , the lack of cross-validation o f te st b a tte rie s is especially c ru c ial. The work o f Baehr, et al indicates th e im portance o f this step in the developm ent of a selection 57 program. 66 The use o f a large number of tests and fe w subjects increases the likelihood th a t m ere chance relationships in the data w ill give the appearance of a useful selection procedure, which in re a lity would become worthless i f applied to a new sample o f individuals. W hat is needed, then, is to look a t many predictors and c r ite ria sim ul­ taneously. C rite rio n measures should include not only police academ y ratings, and tenure, but also m ore c a re fu lly developed ratings of policem an effectiven ess. The c rite ria should be m ulti-dim ensional to allow for th e fa c t th at I) a policem an may be more adept a t p erform in g some aspects of his job than others, and 2) various predictors may be re la te d to d iffe re n t aspects of perform ance. Only by developing good measures of job perform ance can the problem of police selection be re a lis tic a lly approached. Throughout this review , job per­ form ance measures have been the most elusive and d iffic u lt to define. ment of behavior ratin g scales w ill enable th e developm ent of D evelop­ sim ulated experiences to measure a police candidate's p ro ficie n cy in c ritic a l aspects of job perform ance. F a ilu re to pass the test of behavioral relevance is perhaps a m ajor reason why sim ulated measures have not y e t shown up w ell when com pared w ith actual o n -th e-jo b perform ance. In C h ap ter I I I the design of the study is discussed, and background characteristics and perform ance measures used in this study are id en tified . ^ B a h e r , Furcon and Fro em el, loc. c it. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW Analyzed Test Used Independent Variable Dependent Variable Terman (1917) Intelligence Binet-Simon Education Thurstone (1922) Detroit Police Department Intelligence Army Alpha Scale Martin (1923) Mental testing Merrill (1927) Rural police agencies Spaulding (1948) Delaware State Police Study Results Conclusions I.Q. Police appli­ cants men­ tally infer­ ior-median I.Q. of 84 Score of 80 was consid­ ered dull normal range Education & tenure I.Q. Patrolmen had higher I.Q. than supervisory personnel Brightest men leave police work for other occupations Twelve men­ tal tests— reasoning, spelling, arithmetic, etc. Various mental tests I.Q., disci­ pline, effi­ ciency and supervisory ratings Efficiency index correla­ ted highest with Ind. variables Sample size was too small (30) to draw any defini­ tive conclusions Intelligence Army Alpha Scale Education & tenure I.Q. Patrolmen i.Q.'s were higher than general pub­ lic, 104.2 More intelligent remain on de­ partment just as long as less in­ telligent Vocational Interest KuderPreference Record Education I.Q. Civil Service Test Strong incli­ nation to­ ward helping services Police applicants suffer from "neces sary syndrome" Recommen­ dations Candidates with I.Q. lower than 80 be elim­ inated from se­ lection process Future studies use larger sam­ ples Analyzed Test Used Independent Variable Dependent Variable Dubois and Watson (1950) St. Louis Police Department Mental tests Army General Classification Test Police Academy Grades Humm and Humm (1950) Los Angeles Police Department Personality tests Hu mm-Wads­ worth Tem­ perament Scale Kates (1950) Vocational interest Cross and Hammond (1951) Colorado High­ way Patrol Mullineaux (1955) Baltimore City Police Depart­ ment Study Results Conclusions AGCT Su­ pervisory ratings Positive cor­ relation at the end of eight weeks1 training Rather a poor predictive instrument Various Tempera­ ment Scales Voluntary or involun' lary terminated High correla­ tion in dis­ missal group Temperament Scale was a good measure of success in a police agency Strong Voca­ tional In­ terest Blank (SVIB) Various indicators of interest in police work Job Satis­ faction No difference between po­ licemen & gen­ eral population in terms of in­ terest in police work Absence of any relationships was due to complexity of police role Biographi­ cal infor­ mation Background investigation report Employment record, mili­ tary record, hobbies Termination of employ­ ment Family status and former occupation are major factors correlated with job success Mental tests Army General Classification Test & per­ sonal inter­ view AGCT Police academy grades, spelling & report writing High correlations Ability to write obtained for all legibly and spell measures correctly was a factor in later performance Recommendations Improving police perfor­ mance apprai­ sal formats Independent Dependent RecommenStudy_____________Analyzed_____ Test Used______ Variable_____ Variable_____Results_________ Conclusions_______ dations Kole (1962) Intelligence, vocational interest Edwards Per­ sonal Prefer­ ence Scheule (EPPS) Education Job Satis­ faction College educated policemen had a greater interest in police work Police applicants are most interested in social service as opposed to crime fighting Matarazzo (1964) Vocational interest EPPS and SV1B General population Scores on EPPS and SV1B Significant dif­ ference between general popula­ tion and police applicants on EPPS Police applicants score lower on dom­ inance, aggression & displayed an interest in social service work Blum (1964) Not Identified Personality tests MMPI I.Q. & mech­ anical tests developed for police applicants Career de­ High correlations were found be­ velopment personal in­ tween certain jury, absen­ MMPI tests & teeism, serious mis­ conduct disciplinary charges & commendations Colarelli and Siegel (1965) Kansas State Highway Patrol Personality of police applicants California Test of Men­ tal Maturity, Allport-Vernon Study of Values, MMPI Scales on standard personality tests Supervisory evaluation, arrest history No specific cor­ relations cited; men predicted to be good po­ licemen gen­ erally performed well MMPI Schizophrenia scale could be used to identify bad risks before appaintment to police agency Candidates rated satisfactory by supervisors en­ joyed the authority of badge & uniform The use of MMPI Schizophrenia Subscale & Pt (obsessivecompulsive) scale Independent Study____________ Analyzed_____ Test Used______ Variable Dependent RecommenVariable_____Results_________ Conclusions_______ dot ions Eitbert (1966) New York City Police Department Personality, aptitude Developed by author & Otis Intelligence Test Battery of tests Levy (1967) Several California Police agencies Biographical information Personnel files of A,500 police officer Employment Termination history, mili­ for cause tary record, age, debts, arrest history, marital status Officers who Less educated re­ terminate vol­ main on force, untarily are better educated leave different in back­ police work for more ground charact­ challenging employment eristics from those who termin­ ate for cause Niederhoffer (1967) New York City Personality Developed by author Education Cynicism Strong cor­ relation Boehr, Furcon & Froemel (1968) Chicago Police Department Mental tests Personal History Index Background data from personal history Supervisor's Positive cor­ evaluation, relations on absenteeism, all variables commenda­ tions, disci­ plinary charges, num­ ber of arrests Specially de­ veloped su­ pervisory evaluation form which ranked officers high or low Tests were unre­ liable, failed to provide significant difference between high & low rank per­ formance Some officers become frus­ trated at lack of advancement Predictors with highest results came from per­ sonal history items Frustration can be elimin­ ated by develop­ ing job enrich­ ment program Independent Dependent RecommenStudy_____________Analyzed_____ Test Used______ Variable_____ Variable_____Results_________ Conclusions_______ dations Rhead (1958) Chicago, P.D. Personality MMPI, DrawA-Person Test Projective Test Capacity of the ego Police applic.: Suspicious,take risks, impulsive State of ego influences success/failure Gottesman (1969) Not identified Personality MMPI Pro­ files Scales on MMPI Compared police ap­ plicants & veteran group Typical police applicant more adjusted but more defensive than veteran group MMPI general population norms are inappropriate as comparisons for police appli­ cants Gordon (1969) New York City Intelligence LorgeThorndike Test of In­ telligence Race t.Q. Differences Presents no in intelligence explanation between white, for results black & Spanish speaking officers McAllister (1970) New York City Biographical information None Background Tenure, su­ Investigator's pervisory evaluation, Rating accidents, commenda­ tions, absent­ eeism, disci­ plinary charges Clopton (1971) Mental tests Army Gen­ eral Classi­ fication Test Scales on AGCT Police acad­ emy grade, supervisory rating No difference between of­ ficers opproved or disapproved Background rating may not be a valid predictor of future job performance Positive correla- Pre-employment test tion no relascores have no effect tionship on police academy grades Independent Dependent RecommenStudy_____________Analyzed_____ Test Used_______ Variable_____ Variable_____Results_________ Conclusions_____ dations Goldstein (1971) New York City Personality Civil Ser­ vice Tests MMPI Scales on testing procedures Applicants who Pass or fail Civil Service pass likely to Test avoid danger, are honest, good listeners Lefkowitz (1971) Not identified Personality Various attitude measures Background variables Cynicism, authority Hogan (1971) Maryland State Police Personality California Psychological Inventory Test Scores Supervisory Position cor­ evaluation, relation grades in police academy Cohen and Chaiken (1972) New York City Police Depart­ ment Biographical information Personnel files Background characteris­ tics (33 In all) Tenure, accidents, ratings, cornmendations, disciplinary charges, absenteeism, Training grades There is o great Retension of difference beCivil Service tween those who Tests pass or fail a Civil Service Test Social isolation Quick decisions in­ gives rise to terpreted as author­ cynicism, auth­ itarianism by public oritarianism due at large to research bias Replicates earlier research findings of Baehr and Matarazzo Strongest corre- Early Job perrelations exformance is a isted between good predictor age, education, of later peremployment formance history, difference between block and white Single selection process, continuing education, older officers to sensitive areas, broaden training programs Independent Study_____________Analyzed______Test Used_______ Variable Dependent RecommenVariable_____ Results_________ Conclusions_______ dot ions Kayode (1973) Philadelphia Police Department Biogaphical information Personnel files Background character­ istics (33 in all) Tenure, acci- Amount of dents, rateducation ings, combest premendations, dictor of disciplinary job success charges, ab­ senteeism, Training grades No great dif­ ference be­ tween black and white officers Educational programs Manyak (1975) Port Authority Police, New York and New Jersey Biographical information Personnel files, weighted application blank Background character­ istics Tenure, su­ pervisory evaluation, commenda­ tions, dis­ ciplinary actions Best back­ ground pre­ dictors are highly dis­ criminatory Use of coded application forms, computerize all selection information Able to pre­ dict 62% successful officers CHAPTER 111 D E S IG N O F S T U D Y G E N E R A L C O N S ID E R A T IO N S Source of D a ta The data fo r this study w ere c o llec ted in 1975, fro m personnel folders located a t the ad m in istra tive headquarters of the M ichigan S tate P olice. The typical personnel file is divided into nine categories and contains the following inform ation: 1) Enlisted Papers, (application form s and background investigator's report), 2) Prom otions and Transfers, 3) In -S ervice Schools, 4) Com m endations, 5) Board of Inquiry, C om plaints and T ria l Board, 6) Leaves, 7) H e a lth : Illness and Injury, 8) S ervice Ratings, and 9) Miscellaneous. The M ichigan S ta te P o lic e placed no restriction s on the types of data to be collected and analyzed. One hundred and ten descriptors w ere selected fo r each subject describing background ch aracteristics but not a ll o f these w ere analyzed fo r the study. It is hoped th a t fu tu re researchers may derive b e n e fit from this d ata. A com plete set of code sheets illu stratin g the data rem oved from the personnel folders appears in the Appendices. The data w ere co llected fro m I) the Personnel Record U n it which contains d etailed in fo rm a tio n on the background o f each subject and his perform ance as a police o ffic e r, 2) the M edical U n it which contains a detailed m edical history of each subject including on-duty injuries and rates of absenteeism, and 3) the Old R ecord Section which contains data on individuals who 65 66 term inated th e ir em ploym ent shortly a fte r com pleting probationary train ing as w ell as on individuals who fa ile d to com plete the re c ru it train ing school program . A il subjects w ere id e n tifie d by a code number in order to insure the c o n fid e n tia lity o f the study and to prevent associating any data w ith the name o f a p a rtic u la r police o fficer. The Cohort Analysis The te rm cohort is used fo r a v a rie ty of groups. A cohort study focuses on the same population each tim e data are co llected , even though the samples studied may be d iffe re n t. F o r exam ple, R yder says th a t a cohort: may be defined as an aggregate of individuals (w ithin some population d e fin itio n ) who experienced the same event w ith in the same tim e in te rv a l. In alm ost all cohort research to date the defining event has been b irth , but ... the approach can be generalized beyond the b irth cohort to cohorts id e n tifie d by common tim e of occurrence of any sig n ifican t enduring count in life history. Cohorts may be defined in term s of the year in which they com pleted th eir school, the year in which they m arried, the year in which they m ig rated to the c ity , or the year in which they entered the labor fo rce fu ll tim e . Usually, the cohort design is used to describe a population born w ithin a specified tim e period (th re e , fiv e o r ten years) as in f e r tility tim e series, demographic studies, m igratio n d iffe re n tia ls , or occupational m o b ility studies. The te rm has been w idely used to designate an aggregate of individuals of w idely d iffe re n t ages who experienced the same event such as appointm ent to a job w ith in the same tim e interval. Researchers have long recognized th a t longitudinal studies using a cohort design are superior to cross-sectional studies fo r acquiring g re a te r understanding of the circum stances th a t condition human behavior. H ow ever, cohort research is not * Norm an B. R yder, "The C ohort as a C oncept in the Study of Social Change," A m erican Sociological R e v ie w , 30 (D e c ., 1965), 8^5, 8^ 7-8^8. 67 without problems. R yd er warns th at: The m em bers of any cohort are e n title d to p a rtic ip a te in only one slice of life — th eir unique location in the stream of h is to -* Because it embodies a tem p orally specific version ■^ (social) h eritag e, each cohort is d iffe re n tia te d frorn un others, despite the m in im izatio n of v a ria b ility by sym bolically perpetuated institutions an d-b y h iera rc h ic ally graduated structures of author­ ity / In essence, then, each cohort is unique and tim e-bound. As it passes through the d iffe re n t stages of life , its m em bers go to school, g e t jobs, r e tir e and die, not in isolation but in contact w ith other cohorts. Society is not s ta tic and the impact of changes in social behavior undoubtedly d iffe rs from one cohort to another, especially when several years separate them . The present study w ill analyze tw o cohorts in an e ffo r t to discover d ifferen ces over tim e. How representative any single cohort of police may be of o th er s ta te police cohorts is only speculative. The question to be raised is w hether any prob ab ility figure derived fro m a cohort analysis has any measure of g e n erality beyond the cohort its e lf, if non-cohort studies exhib it the same results as cohort findings, then gen eralizab ility may be in question un til other cohorts are form ed and analyze. For exam ple, in the present study if it was discovered th a t the age and education of the candidate a t tim e of appointm ent indicates a higher pro b ab ility of term ination of em ploym ent, this finding could not be ascribed to the power of the cohort design, since cross-sectional studies regularly produce such findings. In many cross-sectional studies, younger and b e tte r educated candidates have been observed to leave police work fo r more rew arding occupations. In sum, findings reported in this study must be tre a te d w ith the usual caution, and th eir em pirical and th e o re tic a l tra n s fe ra b ility should be considered a m a tte r fo r fu rth e r research. 2 lbid., p. 844. H o p efu lly th e results w ill provide in fo rm atio n th at 68 other researchers can use to generate hypotheses fo r fu rth e r cohort analysis. This study w ill exam ine tw o specific cohorts, 1964 and 1969. These two cohorts w ill then be divided into three groups. The ac tive cohort represents S tate police troopers who are still employed by the Michigan S tate Police. The inactive cohort represents troopers who resigned from the Michigan S tate Police sometim e a fte r completing th eir probationary training. The third group are candidates who failed to com plete the recru it school training program. Defining P erform ance Techniques for evaluating individual perform ance are generally not well developed in police organizations. Com monly, an annual or semi-annual subjective rating form on each o ffic e r is fille d out by police supervisors. Police o ffic e rs are rated on global categories such as quality of work or overall su itab ility. strengths and weaknesses are not assessed. Individual Because police adm inistrators believe that the police o ffic e r’s role is too complex to describe, perform ance appraisal has become an em pty ritu a l where almost everyone's perform ance is rated satisfactory. The fa cto rs upon which police o ffice rs are rated may have lit tle to do w ith the actual role of the police. B ittn e r states that "recognition is given fo r doing well in the departm ent, not outside where all the real duties are located." It is d iffic u lt for supervisors to evaluate police o ffic e r perform ance because of 1) the decentralized nature of police work, 2) the lack of c la rity and co n flict of police goals, and 3) the intangible nature of much of the police product, p articu larly deterrence. These factors and a bureaucracy which is se m i-m ilita ry result in evaluations that are based on conform ity to internal bureaucratic standards.^1 It Is 3 Egon B ittn e r, The Functions of the P olice in Modern Society (N ational Institute of M ental H ealth , C en ter fo r Studies of C rim e and Delinquency: Maryland, 1973), pp. 54-55. V i d . , p. 56 69 doubtful th a t being on post or appearing a t roll ca ll w ith shiny leath er and shiny shoes has any relationship to the acquisition of s tre e t "savey" or the a b ility to calm tempers in a dispute. The b u re au c ra tiza tio n of the police means an emphasis on rules, pro­ cedures, processes and record keeping. sought as proof of productivity perform ance. as determ ined O b jective measures o f p ro d u c tivity are This gives rise to an emphasis on police by q u a n tita tiv e indicators. Production rates fo r patrolm en are determ ined by th e number of tr a ff ic tic k e ts w ritte n , arrests made, stolen cars recovered, persons convicted, cases closed by arrest and am ount of recovered stolen property. The focus is on rates o f production ra th e r than on the quality of the process through which the rates are produced. The question asked is "how many tic k e ts or arrests?" ra th e r than "was it wise to w rite a tic k e t or m ake an arrest in this p a rtic u la r situation?" The proponents and opponents of o b jec tive measures argue p rim a rily about the re lia b ility o f the m easure ra th e r than its legitim acy in a perform ance appriasal o f individual police behavior. P erform ance appraisal data can also produce other problem s. P olice organ­ izations g e n erally tend to punish fa ilu re ra th e r than rew ard success. Success often becomes defined sim ply as the absence of fa ilu re . Supervisors are m ore apt to recognize fa ilu re to live up to a standard than success in going beyond th a t standard. Because of this, patrolm en tend to view supervisors as people who can make trouble fo r them , rath er than as people who w ill rew ard a job w ell done.** In ad dition, perform ance appraisal has many technical problems: I) varying standards and fram es of references among supervisors, 2) lack of testing fo r Ibid., pp. 56-57 ^ C liffo rd E. Jurgensen, e t a l., Em ployee P erfo rm an ce Appraisal exam ined (C hicago, Illinois: Public Personnel Association, A p ril, 1963). R e­ 70 reliability and valid ity, 7 3) supervisor's indifference, bias testing p ro c ed u re s.^ 8 4) lack of knowledge, 9 and 5) According to one theorist, these problems can be ameliorated through training and supervision of evaluators and more clearly defined measures of perform ance that re la te to actual job perform ance. There is a need to develop indicators th at describe the quality of performance as well as the quantity, and techniques of evaluation th a t go beyond the subjective rating of a supervisor. The Michigan S tate Police has discontinued the use of their perform ance evaluation fo rm at in order to develop a more realistic appraisal of police o ffic e r performance. Therefore, supervisory perform ance appraisal ratings on the subjects in this study were not current. selected. Subsequently, other measures of perform ance were A fte r a discussion w ith Michigan S tate Police Command Personnel, it was decided to use tw enty perform ance measures to see what relationships exist between these and certain background characteristics. The discussion management personnel was more fo r input than unsolicited opinions. should be noted th at the Michigan S tate Police exhibited many of the problems cited e a rlie r. performance ratings fo r the subjects received perform ance with H ow ever, it rating system For exam ple, upon reviewing 196^ cohort, it was discovered th a t v irtu a lly all satisfactory ratings including those subjects who had an inordinate number of departm ental and c itiz e n complaints filed against them . O f ^Melany E. Baehr, Occasional Papers; The Appraisal Job P erform ance, Industrial R elations C en ter, U niversity of Chicago, No. 2 7 -R I, 1966. Q Sidney Epstein and R ichard S. Laym an, Guidelines fo r Police Perform ance Appraisal, Prom otion and Placem ent Procedures, U.S. D ep artm ent of Justice, Law Enforcem ent Assistance A dm inistration, National Institute of Law Enforcem ent and Crim inal Justice, M arch, 1973. 9 L .L . Cummings and Donald P. Schwab, P erform ance in Organizations: Determ inants and Appraisal (Glenview, III.: Scott, Foresman and Co., 1973). the 113 probationary throughout troopers (of th e the s ta te , perform ance ratings. only tw o 1964 cohort) assigned to various posts troopers received unsatisfactory probationary In th e 1969 cohort only th re e probationary troopers received an unsatisfactory probationary ratin g . It would seem, a t least fo r these two cohorts, th at perform ance evaluation had become an em pty bu reaucratic ritu a l. R E S E A R C H S E T T IN G The subjects of this study are all the m ale police o ffic e rs appointed to the Michigan S tate P o lic e D ep a rtm e n t in 1964 and 1969. N ineteen S ixty -fo u r was the earliest y e a r fo r which co m p lete and ac curate records could be obtained. N ineteen Sixty-nine was chosen a t random to e x a m in e the differen ces over tim e betw een the two cohorts and to cross-validate the results of the 1964 cohort. probably agree th a t A ll of us would we live in a tim e of momentous changes—in technology, politics, norms, th e arts, w a rfa re , e tc ., but one area which has dem onstrated "unparalleled co ntinuity" is th a t of police selection. To m eet the changing needs o f society, both the selection of police applicants and the training environm ents w ill have to be d iffe re n t. How much and in w hat ways d iffe re n t are questions th a t beyond the scope of this study. go N evertheless, to select and tra in police candidates as in the past must widen the gap betw een this profession and the society it serves. Like any other program or a c tiv ity th a t extends over tim e , techniques fo r selecting and training police o ffic e rs need continual m o d ificatio n and redesign. A to ta l of 439 candidates w ere appointed to the M ichigan S ta te P olice in the two years, located. 1964 and 1969. T h e background records of 436 subjects w ere The only records th a t could not be found w ere on three subjects of the 1964 cohort. The a c tiv e cohorts used in the study consisted o f 199 subjects, w ith 93 appointed in 1964 and 106 appointed in 1969. Tw o hundred th irty -s e v e n subjects had le ft the M ichigan S tate P olice prior 72 to January 1, 1975, due to resignation, dismissal or death. subjects le ft the dep artm en t a fte r com pleting th eir A to ta l of th irty probationary period and comprise the in active cohort of the study. Two hundred and seven candidates dropped out or w ere asked to resign from the recru it training school program . This constitutes a loss of 48 percent of the candidates and represents a substantial waste o f money and tim e o f the taxpayers and the M ichigan S tate P olice. In the last fifte e n years the re c ru it school dropout ra te has been about 50 percent fo r each class. There a re , of course, many reasons fo r the high dropout ra te in re c ru it school. The reason most often cited by the candidates is th e rigorous physical training program . O th er more complex answers may be hypothesized, e.g ., the role tran sfo rm ation th at takes place when the new re c ru it is placed in a highly structured, s e m i-m ilita ry and au tho rity-centered bureaucracy. The analysis of re c ru it school dropouts is beyond the scope of this study and w ill not be re fe rre d to again. The main focus of this study is on the a c tiv e cohorts to determ in e back­ ground ch aracteristics th a t re la te to perform ance c rite rio n . The use of a cohort design au to m a tic a lly standardizes the am ount of tim e covered by perform ance data for the a c tiv e cohort. This elim in ates bias th a t appears when o ffic e rs w ith varying lengths o f service are com pared in perform ance. Table I illu strates the design o f the study. Table I Design o f Study Groups A c tiv e Y ear 1964 93 1969 " 106 T o tal 199 In active R e c ru it School Dropout 20 10 30 65 142 207 To tal 178 258 436 73 R A T IO N A L E F O R S E L E C T IN G V A R IA B LE S Previous research indicates th a t the most commonly used background predictor variables have been educational a tta in m e n t, some aspects o f prior em ­ ployment history, m ilita ry record, age at tim e o f appointm ent, violations o f the law, background investigator's ratin g , m a rita l history and race. Figure 1 illustrates some of the studies th a t have used these p red icto r variables. These studies are reviewed in C hapter I I. P re d ic to r V ariables o c ,o o o d *a Dade County P ro je c t, Manyak, 1975 1975 c a> E — a> > a> i s c 2 LU _ l LU I X X X c ° ^-O S oJ — < —: a> DC S X a* £ a> < X X O at _ at (/} <1 c .t; o "O S -R a £ o o .2 CO L *— X X X D X X National P olice Selection Standards P ro je c t, 197^ X X X X X X X X Kayode, X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X 1973 Cohen & C h a ik e n , Spencer & N ich ols, Hankey, M arch, V a lla , 1971 1968 M c A llis te r, Levy, 1972 X X X X X 1968 1967 1962 X X X X X 1959 X M ullineaux, 1955 Cross and Ham m ond, 1951 X X X X X X X X F ig u re I X X X X Ik The most com m only used p e rform ance c r ite ria has been te rm in a tio n of employment. In four of th e studies length o f tenure was the sole c rite rio n o f perform ance. These studies re fle c t th e b e lie f th a t o ffic e rs who te rm in a te have proved unsuited for police w ork. It is hoped th a t im provem ent In the selection process w ill reduce train ing and tu rn over costs by elim in atin g candidates who w ill not become perm anent employees. Supervisor appraisals are often used as perform ance c r ite ria . H ow ever, they are not used in th e present study because the data w ere incom plete. O th e r perform ance c r ite ria used by researchers are rates o f absenteeism , number and type of autom obile accidents, d epartm en tal com m endations, disci­ plinary charges, police academ y grades, and marksmanship. studies th a t have used these c r ite ria . Figure 2 illu strates 75 P erform ance Variables to I•*—I c 0 c o o to ■- • I I £ S 1 g- 0 . 0 Study I— LU Dade County P ro ject, 1975 X Manyak, 1975 E ‘a> to to -Q c a> 22 u o c o o •a c a> E E o to +- LO LU < < X X X £■ ? to >c — 8;> 2* —o 5 c 2 2 rt> 3 S3^ 9 i s J n jvi ft v> oI 1 S,& I O •1 r m qi > z !> >s I o —!? O P j £"1 n 'q P *’ 1 < :3 zlqi| o_jo I^ Cu m g* :o S. ;f5 s;’a S iS i, O 'O " i ;13- • P a o i a - o .a . - O I3 I i . i \tA j "SS* £ £ O -O Is* - 'O 3 « ;n l! Itf> > la n> ft I ,5! oI fP 8 3 3-o T % Age ui 1l*>L*X? Single U) M arried in* in CO CO ON Divorced Debts Residences TT | M ilita ry -C" 4? i ..I l-£.o i Arm y r ’ ■ 'N avy CO «c- . J. . " ! » ? 1 CO CO, i n A ir Force Marines Prior Jobs CO CO CO ISO I T cn © . 11 . Employment Disciplinory R ecord__ Enlisted Non-Commissioned o 9 CO . CO C O H 1 I % 1 - Educational i I Attainm ent College i i Police Science M ajor_________ J CO I j r 1 _ _ . Education Major Business M ajor “ T“ General Course Work Oral Board CO cn Misdemeanor Arrest Recruit School Score 091 1964 ACTIVE COHORT BETWEEN BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS -C- Ln CORRELATIONS *i Divorced -Prior. Jobs Air Force Marines Auto Accidents Educational , Attainment Behavioral Science Major Police Science Major Business Major "Recruit School Score Later Education Probationary Ratinq Departmental Awards Commendatory Letters Non-Preventive Accidents Total Accidents Tteprimands Suspensions Use of Firearms on Duty i h c u o u Z< Use of Firearms on Duty at Suspensions c Reprimands > | Total Accidents Probationary 1Rating Departmental Awards Commendatory Letters Later Education -' Recruit School Score Business Major j Educational Attainment Behavioral Science Major Police Science Major Auto Accidents Marines Air Force Divorced 1 » Prior Jobs 1964 ACTIVE COHORT CORRELATIONS BETWEEN BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES 1 • i i • ! ! 1 i i ! 9 ----- . *- 9 ’ 1 9 \ j j 1 ' : i j * . I — - " 1 --------- r ' ■— l 1 •_ i * I .. 1 • i i * | » -Jl n£5 -.35 .36 .33 ' 1 * j •*32 1 ......... : { * | \ -.39 -.33 •*30 . j -A5 • i i i .30 • » * ■ .32 t Assaults on the O fficer Personal Injuries Departmental Awards Transfers Current Rank Promotions Probationary Ratina Recruit School Score C itizen Complaints Reprimands Preventive Accidents Non-Preventive Accidents Total Accidents Later Education E d u ca tio n Later A c c id e n ts T o tal N o n -P re v e n tiv e A c c id e n ts P re v e n tiv e A c c id e n ts R ep rim an ds C itiz e n C o m p la in ts School Recruit Score P o b a tio n a ry R a tin g P ro m o tio n s R an k Current T ra n s fe rs D e p a rtm e n ta l A w ard s In ju ries Personal Assaults on the O f f ic e r 1969 A C T IV E C O H O R T C O R R E LA TIO N S BETW EEN P E R F O R M A N C E MEASURES • .50 .52 ft • ft .32 ft M ft • • .32 « .31 • • • .39 .30 .51 .76 .72 ft ft Work General Course Major Sci. Police Major Business Oral Board Misdemeanor Arrest Non-Commissioned Enlisted National Guard Marines Force £ 0 Z Air Army M ilita ry Jobs Prior Employment D is­ ciplinary Record Occupation 4 Last .36 Father's Occupation Residences College Educational Attainm ent M arried Debts Aqe Sinnle Married Educational Attainment College Debts Residences Father's Occupation Last Occupation Prior Jobs Employment Dis­ ciplinary Record Military Army Navy Air Force Marines National Guard Enlisted Non-Commissioned Misdemeanor _ Arrest Oral Board Business Major Police Sci. Major General Course Work Single Age 1969 ACTIVE COHORT C9 RRELATIONS BETWEEN BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS • .35 • • .39 .35 ,.39 .38 ,46 • -.75 * -.35 • .34 i.34. • • .39 .34 .55 .51 • • .43 .45 .41 • .30 .30 .32 • .79 .38 ,3 L • • • .36 .34 • t * ->5Q .39 .34 .32 .40, t « * - t 1969 A C T IV E C O H O R T C O R R E L A T IO N S BETW EEN B A C K G R O U N D C H A R A C T E R IS T IC S Age E du catio n Later R a tin g i -- --- i P ro b a tio n a ry D eb ts E ng ineering M a jo r Business M a jo r E d u catio n al A tta in m e n t E n lis te d M ilit a r y Age AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES • • M ilita ry • Enlisted Educational Attainm ent Business Major Engineering Major • Debts Probationary Rating Later Education 9 -*33 ,31 AS .35 •*36 ■*39 • B IB L IO G R A P H Y B IB L IO G R A P H Y BOOKS Adams, Thomas F ., G erald Buck and Don H allstrom . C rim inal Justice: Organization and Managem ent. P acific Palisades, C alifo rn ia: Goodyear Publishing Co., W fW . Am erican Bar Association Standards fo r C rim inal Justice. The Urban Police Function. N ew York: In stitute of Judicial A dm inistration, 1972. Advisory Commission on Intergovernm ental Relations. ton, D .C .: Governm ent P rinting O ffic e , 1971. Police R efo rm . Washing­ Advisory Group on P roductivity in Law Enforcem ent. Opportunities fo r Improving P roductivity in Police Services. Washington, D .C .: N ational Commission on P roductivity, 1973. Baehr, Melany, John E. Furcon and Ernest C. Froem el. Psychological Assessment of Patrolm en Q ualifications in R elation to Field P erform ance. Washington, D .C .: G overnm errrP rinting O ffic e , 196$. B ittner, Egon. The Function of the Police in Modern Society. Maryland: National Institute of M ental H ealth , C en ter fo r Studies o f C rim e and Delinquency, 1973. Blum, Richard H. (ed.). 1964. Police Selection. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C . Thomas, Bordua, David J. (ed.). The Police: Six Sociological Essays. N ew York: John W iley and Sons, 1967. Cam pbell, John P ., e t al. Managerial Behavior, P erform ance and E ffectiveness. N ew York: M c G ra w -H ill Book C o., 1970. Cohen, Bernard and Jan Chaiken. Police Background C haracteristics and P er­ form ance. N ew York: Rand In stitute, August 1972. Cummings, L .L ., and Donald P. Schwab. P erform ance in Organizations: D e te rm inats and Appraisal. G lenview, Illinois: Scott, Foresman, and C o., 1973. D unnette, M arvin D . Personnel Selection and P lacem en t. Brooks-Cole Publishing C o., 1966. Belm ont, C alifo rn ia: Eisenberg, T e rry , Deborah Ann K en t and Charles R . W all. Police Personnel P ractices in S tate and Local G overnm ent. Washington, D .C .: International Association^of Chiefs of Police, 1973. 165 166 Ferguson, R o b ert J. The S c ie n tific In fo rm e r. Thomas, 1971. S pringfield, Illinois: Charles C. Ghiselli, Edwin E. The V a lid ity o f O ccupational A p titu d e Tests. N ew Y o rk: W iley and Sons, 1966. John Gordon, G. C . Perspectives on Law E nforcem ent: 1. C h aracteristics o f Police A pplicants. Educational Testing S ervice, 1969. Jurgensen, C liffo rd E ., e t a l. Em ployee P erfo rm an ce Appraisal R e-E xam in ed . Chicago: Public Personnel Association, 1963. Kahn, R o b ert L ., e t al. 1966. O rg an izatio n al Stress, N ew Y o rk: John W iley and Sons, K atz, D an iel, and R o b ert L . Kahn. The Social Psychology of O rganizations. Y ork: John W iley and Sons, 1966. N ew K lein, M alcolm W. (ed,). Juvenile Gangs in C o n te x t. Jersey: P re n tic e -H a ll, 1967. Englewood C liffs , N ew L e fk o w itz, Joel. Job A ttitu d e s of P olice. Y ork, 1971. C ity U n iversity of N ew March, James G ., and H e rb e rt A . Simon. and Sons, 1958. N ew Y o rk: O rgan izations. N ew Y o rk: John W iley Munro, Jim L . A d m in is tra tiv e Behavior and P olice O rg an izatio n . C in c in n ati, Ohio: W. H . Anderson, C o., 1974. N ational Advisory Commission on C rim in a l Justice Standards and Goals. Washington, D .C .: G overnm ent P rin tin g O ff ice, 1973. P olice. N ational Commission on Causes and Prevention of V iolence. Violence in A m e ric a . Washington, D .C .: G overnm ent P rin tin g O ff ice, 1969. N e id e rh o ffe r, A rth u r. Behind the Shield: The P o lic e in Urban S o ciety. N e w Y ork: Anchor Books, 1967. O'Conner, George W. Survey o f Selection Methods. national Association of C hiefs o f P olice, 1962. Washington, D .C .: In te r­ President's Commission on L aw E n fo rc em en t and A d m in istratio n o f Justice. Task Fo rce R ep o rt: The P o lic e. Washington, D .C .: G overnm ent P rin tin a O ffic e , 1967. Reiss, A lb e rt J. Occupations and Social Status. N ew Y o rk: F re e Press of Glencoe. 1961. Rubenstein, Jonathan. C ity P o lic e . N ew Y ork: B alla n tin e Books, 1973. Skolnick, Jerom e H . The P o litic s of P ro test: V io le n t Aspects o f P ro test and C o n fro n tatio n . A S ta ff R e p o rt to the N atio n a l Commission on the Causes and Prevention o f V iolence, 1968. 167 Stone, C . H arold , and W illiam E . K en dall. E ffe c tiv e Personnel S election Pro­ cedures. Englewood C liffs , N ew Jersey: P re n tic e -H a ll, In c., 1965. U niform C rim e R eports. C rim e in the U nited S tates G overnm ent P rin tin g O ffic e , 1974. — 1974. Washington, D .C .: United S tates Commission on C iv il Rights. R ep o rt on Equal O pportunity in S ta te and Local G overnm ent E m ploym ent. Washington, D .C .: G overnm ent P rin tin g O ffic e , 1969. U nited States R io t Commission. R e p o rt of the N ational Advisory Commission on C iv il Disorders. N ew Y ork: B antam Books, Inc., 1968. W hitaker, Ben. The P o lic e. M iddlesex, England: Penguin Books, L td ., 1964. Wilsom, James Q. V a rie tie s of P olice B ehavior. U n iversity Press, 1968. Wilson, Orlando W ., and Roy C. M c L a re n . M c G ra w -H ill Book C o ., 1972. C am bridge, Mass.: P olice A d m in is tra tio n . H arvard N ew Y ork: P E R IO D IC A L S Ashburn, F ran klin G ., and P ayton E. W ard, J r. "Education and Training: The M om ent of T ru th ," P olice C h ie f, 40 (July, 1973). C o la re lli, N ick J ., and Saul M . Siegel. "A M ethod of Police Personnel Selection," Journal o f C rim in al Law , C rim inology and P olice Science, 55 (June, 1964). Cross, A rth u r C ., and K enneth R . Ham m ond. "Social D iffe re n c e s B etw een 'Success­ fu l and Unsuccessful' S ta te H ighw ay P atro lm en ," Public Personnel R e v ie w , 12 (July, 1951). Dubois, Philip H ., and R o b e rt 1. Watson. "The Selection of P atro lm en ," Journal o f A pplied Psychology, 34 (A p ril, 1950). E ilb e rt, L . R . "Research on the Selection of P olice R ecru its," A m erican In s titu te fo r Research, August, 1966. Gross, Solomon. "H ig her Education and th e P o lice," Journal of P olice Science and A d m in istratio n , I (D ecem b er, 1973). Guion, R o b e rt M ., and R ich ard F . G o ttie r. "V alid atin g of Personality Measures in Personnel Services," Personnel Psychology, 18 (Summer, 1965). Hogan, R o b ert. "P ersonality C ha ra cte ris tics o f H ighly R ated P olicem en," sonnel Psychology, 24 (W in te r, 1971). H oobler, Raymond L ., and J. A . M cG ueeny. 42 (D ecem ber, 1974). P er­ "A Question o f H eig h t," P olice C h ie f, H o rva th , F ran k. "The P olice C a n d id a te Polygraph E xam ination: Considerations fo r the P olice A d m in is tra to r," P o lic e, 16 (June, 1972). 168 ____________ . "Verbal and N onverbal Clues to Truth and D eception During Poly­ graph Exam inations," Journal of P olice Science and A d m in istratio n , I (June, 1973). Humm, Doncaster G ., and K ath ryn A . H um m . "Hum m -W adsworth T em p eram ent Scale Appraisals Com pared w ith C r ite r ia of Job Success in th e Los Angeles P olice D ep a rtm e n t," Journal o f Psychology, 30 (July, 1950). Kates, Solis L . "Rorschach Responses, Strong Blank Scales and Job S atisfaction Among P olicem en," Journal o f Applied Psychology, 34 (June, 1950). K ent, Deborah Ann, and T e rry Eisenberg. "The S election and P rom otion of P olice O fficers: A Selected R eview of R ec en t L ite ra tu re ," P olice C h ie f, 39 (February, 1972). Levinson, D avid J. "Role P ersonality and Social S tru ctu re in the O rganzational S ettin g ," Journal o f Abnorm al and Social Psychology, 58 (M arch , 1959). Levy, R u th . "P redicting P olice Failures." Journal o f C rim in al Law , C rim inology and P olice S cience, 58 (June, 1967). Mahoney, Thomas A ., et a l. "Id e n tific a tio n and P rediction of M anagerial E ffe c tiv e ­ ness," Personnel A d m in is tra tio n , 26 (July-A ugust, 1963). Marsh, S te w a rt H . "V alidating th e S election of D eputy S heriffs," Public Personnel R e v ie w , 23 (January, 1963). M a rtin , Edw ard M , "A p titu d e Tests fo r P olicem en," Journal of C rim in a l L aw and C rim inology, 14(19 23). _____________ . "An E xp erim ent in N ew Methods of Selecting P olicem en," N ational M unicipal R e v ie w , 12 (1923). M a ta ra zzo , Joseph D ., e t a l. "C h aracteristic s of Successful Policem en and F irem en A pplicants," Journal of A pplied Psychology, 48 (A p ril, 1964). M a y fie ld , Edward C . "The Selection In terview : A R e -e va lu atio n o f Published Research," Personnel Psychology, 17 (A utum n, 1964). M c A llis te r, John A . "A Study o f the P rediction and M easurem ent o f Police P e r­ form ance, "P o lice, 14 (M a rc h -A p ril, I 970). M cC lellan d , D avid C . "Testing fo r C om petence R a th e r Than In tellig en ce," A m e r­ ican Psychologist, 28 (January, 1973). M c N e m a r, Q. "Lost: Our (D ecem ber, 1964). In tellig en ce. Why?" A m erican Psychologist, 19 M e rrill, Maud A . "In tellig en ce fo r P olicem en," Journal of Personnel R esearch, 5 (1927). M ille r, James G. "Living Systems: S tru ctu re and Process," B ehavioral Science, 10 (O ctober, 1965). M ills, R o b ert B ., e t a l. "Situational Tests in P olice R e c ru it Selection," Journal of C rim in al L a w , C rim inology, and Police Science, 57 (M arch, 1966)* Mosel, James L ., and L ee W. Cozan. "The A ccuracy of A pplication Blank Work H istories," Journal o f Applied Psychology, 36 (O ctob er, 1952). Mullineaux, Jew ell E . "An Evaluation of P redictors Used to S elect P atrolm en ," Public Personnel R ev iew , 16 (A p ril, 1955). Nash, A llan N . "D evelopm ent of an SVIB K ey fo r Selecting Managers," Journal of Applied Psychology, 50 (June, 1966). Neuman, G a il, e t a l. "Jo b-R elated Tests and P olice Selection Procedures," P olice C h ie f, AI (February, 1974). N ow icki, Stephen. "A Study of Personality C h aracteristics o f Successful P o lic e m en," P olice, 10 (Janu ary-F ebruary, 1966). Rhead, C ., e t a l. "The Psychological Assessment of P olice C andidates," A m erican Journal o f P sychiatry, 124, 3 (M ay, I 968). R yder, N orm an B. "The C ohort as a Concept in the Study of Social Change," A m erican Sociological R e v ie w , 30 (D ecem ber, I 965). Shavelson, R ich ard J ., e t al. "A C rite rio n Sampling Approach P atro lm en ," Police C h ie f, 42 (Septem ber, 1974). to Selecting Spaulding, V. V . "A Study of Nurse and P olice A pplicants," D ela w are S tate M edical Journal, 20 (June, 1948). Spencer, G ilm ore, and R ob ert Nichols. "A Study o f Chicago P olice R ecruits: V alid atio n of S election Procedures," P olice C h ie f, 38 (June, 1971). Tam m , Quinn. "A Change fo r the B e tte r," P olice C h ie f, 29 (1962). Term an, Lewis M . "A T ria l of M ental and Pedogogical Tests in a C iv il Service E xam ination fo r Policem en and F irem en ," Journal of A pplied Psychology, 1 (M arc h , 1917). Thurstone, L . L. "The In tellig en ce of P olicem en," Journal of Personnel R esearch, I (1922). Trojano w icz, John M ., and R o b ert C . T ro jan o w icz, "The R ole o f C ollege Ecucation in D ecision-M aking," Public Personnel R e v ie w , 33 (January, 1972). V a lla , Louis F . "Predicting Tenure of B order P atro l Inspectors," Personnel A dm in­ istra tio n , 22 (M a rc h -A p ril, 1959). V ollm er, August. "A P ra c tic a l M ethod fo r Selecting P olicem en," Journal o f C rim ­ inal L aw and C rim in olo gy, I I (February, 1921). 170 U N P U B L IS H E D M A T E R IA L Clopton, W ., Jr. "Comparison o f Ratings and F ie ld P erform ance D a ta in V alidating P redictions of Patrolm en P erform ance: A F iv e -Y e a r Follow -up Study." Unpublished M aster’s thesis, Washington S ta te U niversity, 1971. Collins, Jack G. "A Study of the Use of th e Hum m -W adsw orth Tem p eram ent Scale by the Los Angeles P olice D ep artm e n t." Unpublished Master's thesis, U n iversity of Southern C a lifo rn ia , 1965. Dade County Public S afety D e p a rtm e n t. "P olice O ffic e r Selection and P erform ance Analysis." Unpublished research proposal, January, 1975. Dempsey, C . A . "A Study o f P olice H eight R equirem ents." Unpublished paper presented to the Texas D ep artm e n t of Public S a fe ty , June, 1974. Furcon, John, e t al. "A Longitudinal Study of Psychological Test P redictors and Assessments o f P atrolm en F ield P erform ance." R ep ort subm itted to Law E nforcem ent Assistance A d m in istratio n . Washington, D .C .: Governm ent P rinting O ffic e , 1972. Hogan, R o b ert. "A Study of P olice E ffectiveness," Paper presented a t A m erican Psychological Association. Washington, June, 1970. K ayode,O linjem i. 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Un­ published rep o rt by S election Consulting C en ter, S acram ento, C a lifo rn ia , Septem ber, 1974. C O U R T CASES A rrington v. Massachusetts Bay Transportation A u th o rity . Federal Supplem ent, 306 (1969). C a rte r v. G allagh er. Federal R e p o rte r, 452 (1972). 171 Castro v. Beecher. Federal R e p o rte r, 459 (1972). C ro ck ett v . G reen. Federal Supplem ent, 388 (1975). Douglas v. H am pton. U.S. D is tric t C o u rt, D is tric t of C olum bia, 14 (1972). Gregory v. L itto n Systems, Inc. Federal Supplem ent, 316 (1970). Griggs v . Duke Power Com pany. 401 U .S . 424 (1971). N A A C P v. A lle n . Federal Supplem ent, 340 (1972). Parham, v. Southwestern B ell Telephone Com pany. Federal R e p o rte r, 433 (1970). U.S. v. C ity of Chicago. Federal Supplem ent, 385 (1975). O T H E R SO U R C ES Baehr, M elany. Occasional Papers: The Appraisal o f Job P erfo rm an c e. Industrial R elations^C enter, U n iversity o f Chicago No. 2 7 - R I, 1968. Cohen, Bernard. 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