NCJ Number
80615
Date Published
Unknown
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Personnel problems of the Munich police force are discussed as typical for law enforcement agencies in large West German cities.
Abstract
A serious cause of job dissatisfaction among some officers is their involuntary assignment to the city despite expressed desire to serve elsewhere. An estimated 800 young officers would like to be transferred after their mandatory 5-year service in a high-population density area. With such transfers, the department will lose an already trained contingent, valuable for its experience on the force. Currently in Munich there is a ratio of 1 police officer to 300 inhabitants; a ratio of 1 to 250 is desired. The foreign population in the city amounts to 17 percent, and this group cannot be considered a source of new recruits. Decreasing birth rates over the past decades and increasing numbers of juveniles with delinquency records further narrow the recruitable population. Industrial manpower needs in the city are also high and this sector offers more lucrative job opportunities. Indeed, it is industry which attracts the continuous influx of inhabitants into the city, thus contributing to the need for a larger police force. These pressures cannot be resolved by merely increasing the recruitment staff or intensifying their efforts. One alleviating measure has been the lowering test score requirements for police candidates in high population areas. Another is a training program for city police recruits that can be entered at age 16. An alternative that remains to be considered is that of admitting female officers to force. A variety of minor incentives such as housing and other types of financial allowances, swifter advancement, and lower educational requirements could also be implemented. Above all, police recruiting programs should be centralized and coordinated throughout the country.