This book is the most comprehensive reference ever written for individuals interested in law enforcement selection. The chapters contain meta-analyses (statistical reviews of the literature) investigating the validity of methods used to predict police performance. These methods include education requirements, cognitive ability, background variables (e.g., military experience, arrest record, discipline problems at work), personality inventories, interest inventories, physical agility tests, assessment centers, and interviews. The first chapter in the book is a short primer on meta-analysis that informs the reader about the purpose of meta-analysis and how to interpret the meta-analysis tables contained in the book. Chapter 2 describes the methods used to conduct the meta-analyses for this project. Chapters 3-11 list the meta-analysis results for the various predictors of police performance. Chapter 12 describes a meta-analysis of the relationships among criteria (e.g., performance ratings, discipline problems, commendations), Chapter 13 describes a meta-analysis of the relationships among selection methods, and Chapter 14 describes a meta-analysis of the relationship between the various criteria and sex, race, age, and tenure. Chapter 15 summarizes the previous chapters and identifies future research needs.

For many years, law enforcement administrators, government officials, and researchers have explored the possibility of professionalizing law enforcement agencies and their officers. Some have called for mandatory college education requirements while others have argued for the formation of a national police force. In 1979, police practitioners from various law enforcement executive organizations met to develop a process to professionalize police agencies by instituting standards covering the wide range of police functions. The Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc. (CALEA) was born. This book describes the results of a study that evaluated the impact of CALEA accreditation on specific personnel administration practices in municipal police departments. The author compares accredited and non-accredited departments for personnel practices including procedures for officer selection, promotion, and the integration of formal education requirements.

Remarkably little has been written about the theory and practice of applied police research, despite growing demand for evidence in crime prevention. Designed to fill this gap, this book offers a valuable new resource. It contains a carefully curated selection of contributions from some of the world's leading applied police researchers. Together, the authors have almost 300 years of relevant experience across three continents. The volume contains both practical everyday advice and calls for more fundamental change in how police research is created, consumed and applied. It covers diverse topics, including the art of effective collaborations, the interaction between policing, academia and policy, the interplay between theory and practice and managing ethical dilemmas. This book will interest a broad and international audience from academics and students, to police management, officers and trainees, to policymakers and research funders.

Recruitment and selection were always considered as one of the most critical functions of success and performance in both the private and the public sectors. In a rapidly changing environment and with the increased customer demands, it is not likely that a company or organization that ignores its environment and overlooks revising its policies including recruitment would survive or sustain efficiency. This study identifies the determinants involved in recruitment and selection practices in law enforcement agencies and their importance to the rapidly changing profession in the US. This study examines the logic behind recruitment practices and how they effect decisions in police departments. The moving point to research these arguments is analyzing the selection techniques used in police departments. Unlike other studies that focus on analyzing which selection method(s) is best in predicting how to recruit good police officer (for a compilation of such studies on law enforcement selection, a good resource is "Research in Law Enforcement Selection" by Michael G. Aamodt), this study tries to understand what factors affect using more or less selection tools assuming that using more diverse selection tools helps identify more aspects of an individual which in turn serves police departments better to have more qualified officers. The findings from this research suggest that police departments are aware of the importance of external forces and value organizational change and as such they adapt their structures including their recruitment policies to external demands. At the same time, some internal factors also seem to have a significant role in recruitment decisions.

Police do not and cannot prevent crime. This alarming thesis is explored by David Bayley, one of the most prolific and internationally renowned authorities on criminal justice and policing, in Police for the Future. Providing a systematic assessment of the performance of the police institution as a whole in preventing crime, the study is based on exhaustive research, interviews, and first hand observation in five countries--Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States. It analyzes what police are accomplishing in modern democratic societies, and asks whether police organizations are using their resources effectively to prevent crime. Bayley assesses the impediments to effective crime prevention, describes the most promising reforms currently being tested by the police, and analyzes the choices that modern societies have with respect to creating truly effective police forces. He concludes with a blueprint for the creation of police forces that can live up to their promise to reduce crime and enhance public safety. Written for both the general public and the specialist in criminal justice, Police for the Future offers a unique multinational perspective on one of society's most basic institutions.