NCJ Number
60648
Date Published
1979
Length
194 pages
Annotation
THE METHODOLOGY AND PRELIMINARY FINDINGS OF A JOB ANALYSIS OF THE ENTRY-LEVEL, RADIO CAR PATROL OFFICER JOB IN CALIFORNIA ARE PRESENTED.
Abstract
THE ANALYSIS WAS CONDUCTED TO PROVIDE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND THE CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON PEACE OFFICER STANDARDS AND TRAINING (POST) WITH A COMPREHENSIVE, JOB-ANALYTIC DATA BASE FOR DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING ENTRY-LEVEL PATROL OFFICER SELECTION STANDARDS AND PRACTICES. SURVEY DATA WERE GATHERED FROM 1,720 OFFICERS AND 717 SUPERVISORY AND COMMAND PERSONNEL FROM 219 (53 PERCENT) OF THE POLICE AND SHERIFF DEPARTMENTS IN THE POST PROGRAM. DEPARTMENTS SAMPLED VARIED GREATLY IN SIZE, TYPE OF JURISDICTION, AND GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION. DATA COLLECTED ON 387 TASKS WERE ORGANIZED INTO 33 HOMOGENEOUS TASK GROUPS, INCLUDING PATROL AND INVESTIGATION TASKS SUCH AS INVESTIGATING AND SEARCHING, TRAFFIC TASKS, MOTOR VEHICLE TASKS, ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TASKS, AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE TASKS. COMPARISON AMONG AGENCIES ACROSS TASK GROUPS SHOWED FEW SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN RELATIVE TASK IMPORTANCE. THE EXTENT TO WHICH EACH OF 29 IDENTIFIED BEHAVIORS WERE NECESSARY FOR SUCCESSFUL PERFORMANCE AS A PATROL OFFICER WAS NEXT DETERMINED, AND EACH FACTOR WAS ASSIGNED A WEIGHT IN THE SELECTION PROCESS. COMPUTER SOFTWARE DEVELOPED WILL PERMIT FUTURE GENERATION OF JOB ANALYSIS FINDINGS FOR EACH AGENCY. CURRENTLY, POST IS DEVELOPING JOB-RELATED READING, WRITING, AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE TESTS AS WELL AS ADAPTING THE JOB ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY FOR USE IN OTHER STATES. FUTURE DATA BASE USES INCLUDE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS AND ASSESSMENT OF PATROL OFFICER FUNCTION CHANGES OVER TIME. TABLES, 13 APPENDIXES WHICH INCLUDE SURVEY INSTRUMENTS AND ADDITIONAL RESULTS, AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY, ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)