NCJ Number
192752
Journal
Police Chief Volume: 68 Issue: 11 Dated: November 2001 Pages: 32-36
Editor(s)
Charles E. Higginbotham
Date Published
November 2001
Length
5 pages
Annotation
This article examines the purpose of law enforcement training and performance assessments and evaluations of training programs, and a brief overview of the Kirkpatrick training evaluation model is presented.
Abstract
Law enforcement administrators across the country view training as an absolute necessity to instilling a universal professionalism in law enforcement. Training falls under human resource development (HRD) and is defined as the process of systematically developing expertise in individuals for the purpose of improving performance. The purpose of training is to develop key competencies that enable an officer to perform their current or future jobs. Training is considered a primary intervention for criminal justice managers, showing their attempt to solve problems or improve organizational effectiveness. However, criminal justice administrators need to evaluate their training to determine its effectiveness. The Kirkpatrick evaluation model, developed in 1998, has four levels of evaluation: reaction, learning, behavior, and results. This model is considered a full-fledged training evaluation used to demonstrate the usefulness of training and the appropriateness of expending training dollars.