CJS210 - Law Enforcement Selection & Training

7/30/2019 CJS210 - Law Enforcement Selection & Training

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Title: Officer Selection Training and Process

Course: CJS210

Submitted by: Travis Hance

Course Instructor: Jason Garner


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upon a standard of professionalism if they are managed by officers and senior

officials who strive to meet a higher standard. Wilson viewed managerial

efficiency as central to police administration, believing that police departments

should maximize patrol coverage by replacing foot patrols with one-person auto

patrols (Dempsey 1999, p. 16). Moreover, he saw rapid response to calls as

being the best means of measuring the effectiveness of police departments. As

such, he developed workload formulas to measure calls for service versus

reported crimes on each beat to guide deployment. Both of these views became

leading principles guiding police management throughout the Reform Era.

(Grant & Terry, Pearson Education, Page 53, Copyright 2003) This I believe was

a turning point within the effort to see police departments become more

professional. Not only were officers being pushed to gain education, training,

and experience which would benefit the public, we also see a marked change in

the way management operated. It was no longer enough for law enforcement

agencies to operate according to the status quo. Department managers began

to become responsible to both city officials, and even the public as litigation and

scrutiny began to increase.

As a general rule, I believe it safe to conclude that any career path can be

improved by continuing education, a demand for higher professional standards,

and with that phrase in mind, a true standard which potential recruits must meet.

The introduction of these concepts into the American law enforcement system

served as a true turning point from random enforcement to a professional code of


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ethics based in service to the citizens.

In 1935, the development of the FBI Academy introduced a higher standard of

both investigatory procedure, as well as a standard in which individual crimes

could be both tracked and traced. The compilation of physical and fingerprint

evidence began to establish a national library of information that assisted

investigators in the pursuit of justice. As our course material states: Hoover was

largely responsible for developing the FBI National Academy in 1935, which is

responsible for training police officers from around the country in specialized

policing and investigation techniques. Hoover also was responsible for

establishing the FBI Crime Laboratory, which, despite controversy surrounding

the lab in the 1990s, is generally regarded as one of the best such laboratories in

the world. (Grant & Terry, Pearson Education, Page 54, Copyright 2003).

Additionally, the FBI has worked in partnership with various departments around

the country in order to provide training for senior level officers in professional

police procedure. Officers who graduate from the FBI academy are drawn from

the senior levels of departments all over the country, and attend a professional

course of study for U.S. and international law enforcement leaders that serves to

improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies at home

and abroad and to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation

worldwide. (The FBI Academy, U.S. Government, 2011) These graduate level

courses help promote professional development within the leadership levels of

major departments. Such skilled and highly trained leaders can than return to


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promote improved training programs within there departments as a result of the

unique lessons gathered from the national law enforcement experience of the

FBI.

Unfortunately, despite these advances there are negative influences that must be

considered. Budgetary constraints often influence civil service positions faster

than a private sector position. Departments are often faced with a reduction in

funds. The mildest impact is often noticed within training programs. During

times of more serious economic constraint, qualified and experienced officers are

often removed from the force simply due to a lack of funds. The answer

therefore is based in continuing education. Officers and departments who

pursue a higher standard of both education and professionalism are most often

rewarded with higher levels of funding. As an article in Officer.com quotes: "The

money was never the deciding factor for most of us," (Law Enforcement

Technology, www.officer.com, 2011. Page 32). This in my belief sums up the

primary difference between those who truly choose law enforcement as a

profession. Making a profession of something, at its very essence, assumes that

you become professional in your methods and procedures through education and

training. Law enforcement officers choose to do so out of a desire to serve and

protect the community, and often such progressive training to become more

professional is paid for personally.


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References

A: Law Enforcement in the 21st Century, Second Edition, by Heath B. Grant and

Karen J. Terry. Published by Allyn & Bacon. Copyright 2008 by Pearson

Education, Inc., Page 53.

B: Law Enforcement in the 21st Century, Second Edition, by Heath B. Grant and



C: Law Enforcement in the 21st Century, Second Edition, by Heath B. Grant and



D: The FBI Academy, http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/training/national-academy,

2011

E: Law Enforcement Technology, www.officer.com, 2011

https://content.ebscohost.com/pdf25_26/pdf/2011/108Y/01Jun11/64731629.pdf?

T=P&P=AN&K=64731629&S=R&D=i3h&EbscoContent=dGJyMNHr7ESeprQ4zO

X0OLCmr0meqLFSs664Sa6WxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPPm5ofj5OeQu

ePfgeyx43zxo%2BWK

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CJS210 - Law Enforcement Selection & Training