NCJ Number
181120
Date Published
1998
Length
167 pages
Annotation
The purpose of this investigation was to examine police cadets and analyze their achievement levels while in the controlled environment of the Houston Police Academy.
Abstract
Specifically, the investigator sought to determine the level of achievement by police cadets who possessed no military service and 60 or more semester hours of college, military service and no semester hours of college, or military service and between 1 and 59 semester hours of college. A statistical design was employed based on one-way analysis of variance, and the investigation used a 5-year stratified random sample of 273 police cadets. Scores of police cadets were analyzed with respect to a reading comprehension test, State licensing test, civil service test, academic average, driving skill average, and firearms skill average. Police cadets with no military service and 60 or more semester hours of college had statistically significantly higher scores than police cadets with prior military service and no semester hours of college on the reading comprehension test, the State licensing test, the civil service test, and academic average. No statistically significant differences between any groups were observed in relation to driving skill averages. Finally, police cadets who had prior military service and between 1 and 59 semester hours of college had statistically significantly higher scores on firearms skill averages than nonmilitary cadets. An appendix contains permission letters and law enforcement statistical data. 77 references and 24 tables