NCJ Number
81608
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 48 Issue: 12 Dated: (December 1981) Pages: 65-69
Date Published
1981
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article describes the Computer-Assisted Police Evaluation (CAPE) system as implemented in the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office (Utah).
Abstract
CAPE is one of the first practical approaches to objective performance assessment developed to run on inexpensive, time-sharing computer systems. It consists of a series of performance evaluation manuals and computer programs designed to analyze and store individual evaluations. CAPE provides a separate manual for the evaluation of persons in each of the various positions within a department. In the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, there are eight manuals to cover the major positions. Evaluation categories in each manual are behaviorally anchored to specific, observable, job-related tasks, duties, and responsibilities. CAPE provides two alternatives in terms of how the evaluations are actually conducted: either the officer's immediate superior or a panel of officers can evaluate the subject. An individual evaluation is conducted on all personnel in the sheriff's office, and CAPE evaluations are conducted every 6 months. The evaluations are used for merit and promotion ratings and to point out an officer's strengths and weaknesses. Included in the evaluation is an overall group summary analysis which provides the scores for all persons in the sheriff's office. The sheriff's office has been able to use this information to pinpoint its overall personnel strengths and weaknesses and to plan strategy. A unique feature of CAPE is the capability of evaluating evaluators in that evaluators whose evaluations are either significantly above or below the average for all evaluators are red-flagged on the evaluator analysis. Other features of the CAPE system are described, and the evaluation process is detailed. The article notes that the sheriff's office can run individual analyses for as little as $1 per person. A sample category from the deputy performance evaluation manual is shown.